Duo and the Desert
by Travaria
Summary: Now Complete! The General of Lord Quatre's army finds a boy collapsed in the desert, but things are not as simple as they first appear. okay, I'm no good at these, but read it any way. AU shounen ai 1X2 34
1. Chapters 1 and 2

Hey all ummm, this is my first fanfic ever. I didn't post it first because I already have a lot of parts written and I didn't feel like uploading all of them, Ok ok, so I'm just lazy ^_^;. So basically I'm combining the chapters so that I'll only have to upload half as many chapters as I've written, well its better than nothing. Oh yea, the chapters will probably fluctuate in length pretty badly since I never plan how much I'm going to write in a chapter I just write until my muse tells me to stop. Well, I hope you all enjoy this. ~Travaria  
  
Duo and the Desert by Travaria  
  
Part 1  
  
"A desert, why did it have to be a desert? If it were anything else, I wouldn't be about to die right now," Duo grumbled to himself as he struggled to walk through the ever-shifting sands. "If it were a forest, or a mountain, or a city, I would be fine, but no, my perfect chance at running away came while we were in a desert. What I wouldn't give for a sip of water right now." The sun was beating down on him causing him to be terribly overheated in his black cloak. Despite the sun, he kept the cloak on knowing that if he didn't then his pale skin would burn instantly, causing him even more misery. It had been days since Duo had last had something to eat or drink, and he knew it was only a matter of time till he collapsed, even so, he kept moving. "Well, I did promise myself death or freedom, but I was thinking more along the lines of being killed, not slowly withering away in this damn desert," Duo added with an ironic smile.  
  
The braided boy trudged on and on, not willing to stop for anything, including exhaustion--especially exhaustion. Duo squeezed his eyes shut and kept on walking; he had shut his eyes because they could no longer focus-- not that there was much to focus on, anyway. When he opened his eyes he saw what appeared to be a fortress; Duo groaned and shut his eyes again. "I'm seeing things now, this really sucks." All of a sudden Duo just couldn't take it anymore; he gave in to his exhaustion and collapsed onto the burning sands. Just as Duo was slipping out of consciousness, he could have sworn he heard someone yelling, but he just decided that he was hallucinating again.  
  
********  
  
"Heero! Shinigami just broke free again, can you and Wing go bring her back?" Quatre yelled to his sullen-looking friend who was seated on a magnificent white stallion. Heero nodded and took off after the unruly black mare.  
  
"Quatre, why do you even keep that impossible mare? No one can ride her, and only Heero and Wing can get her to do anything," Wufei said as he moved to stand next to the short blonde.  
  
"Well, she's a magnificent horse for starters, plus if I got rid of her now that would upset Wing, which would upset Heero, which is not a good idea," Quatre informed Wufei.  
  
Wufei shuddered at the idea of Heero being upset. "I still can't see why Yuy's impeccably trained war-horse would even want to mate with that crazy un-trainable black mare," Wufei snorted irritably.  
  
"Sometimes even animals are drawn to their opposites," said Trowa calmly and quietly as he walked up and embraced his lover Quatre from behind. Wufei snorted again.  
  
********  
  
Heero sighed, he was positive that all Shinigami needed was someone to belong to, after that he was certain the temperamental mare would calm down considerably. Actually, it was Heero's personal theory that someone had owned the mare before Quatre and that she was completely loyal to whoever it was. Heero gazed around the desert sands searching for the missing black horse, luckily he spotted her almost immediately. Shinigami was standing over a black something; she appeared to just be waiting for him instead of playing her usual game of chase.  
  
Heero spurred Wing into a canter and quickly headed towards her. When he got closer, he realized that the black something at the mare's feet was a person. Heero yelled back at Quatre, trying to catch his attention, but he was already too far away. As soon as Heero had reached Shinigami he vaulted off of Wing and kneeled beside the unmoving person wrapped in a black cloak. Heero gently turned the person over, revealing what would have been a very attractive boy had his lips not been cracked from thirst and his face not covered with dirt that had tracks in it from his sweat. The boy was completely unconscious.  
  
The dark-haired boy lifted the fallen youth into his arms and gently laid him over Shinigami's back. Normally Shinigami would have shaken any burden placed on her off, but she just accepted the boy, thus confirming Heero's new theory that the horse was attached to him for some reason. Once he had the boy settled, Heero carefully mounted Wing and set off at a slow walk, leading the mare behind him. As soon as Heero could see the others standing in front of the fortress, he motioned for them to come over.  
  
********  
  
"Look, Heero is waving for us, I wonder what he wants?" Quatre said once he had figured out what Heero was doing.  
  
"Well, he has that damnable mare with him so it can't be that," Wufei remarked.  
  
"It's Heero, so it's most likely important," Trowa stated.  
  
"Come on, let's go and see what he wants," Quatre said, so the trio jogged out towards him. As they got closer it became apparent that there was something slung over the black mare's back, which startled them considerably because they too knew how much she hated carrying stuff around. "Heero, what is that?" Quatre asked once they were close enough.  
  
"Hn, it's a traveler," Heero informed him.  
  
"What?!" Quatre squawked; he quickly ran over Shinigami's side and examined the boy. "He needs to be taken into the fortress at once, he's in pretty bad shape," Quatre commanded. Heero nodded in acknowledgment and resumed leading the horses back to the fortress.  
  
"Heero, how did you get that that mare to carry that boy?" Wufei asked.  
  
"I didn't do anything, she didn't seem to mind," Heero shrugged. Wufei froze and stared in shock at his nonchalant statement. Heero smirked; he had been expecting such a reaction from his stern Chinese companion. Wufei moved next to Shinigami and studied her expectantly. Naturally the mare snapped at him and trod on his feet. Wufei began cursing rapidly in Chinese.  
  
"That impossible horse will never change," Wufei growled. Heero snickered.  
  
They took the boy into the fortress where they were met by a horde of Quatre's servants, they were all willing and able to help, but Heero just shoved the reins of the two horses into the waiting servant's hands and picked the boy up himself. "Heero, you know that that is unnecessary, my servants can take him," Quatre reminded the stubborn solider.  
  
"Hn," was as close to a reply as Quatre was going to get. Heero was curious about this boy, and he figured that since he found him, then it was his responsibility to take care of him. There was just something about the unconscious boy that intrigued him to the point where he was becoming downright possessive over him. He didn't like the feeling, but he had always been taught to follow his emotions, so... Heero snorted softly to himself and walked straight towards his small cottage. His cottage was located just outside of the large palace that belonged to Quatre, the lord of the fortress. The others all stayed in the palace; Heero had always preferred his surroundings to be simpler, so Quatre had built his little cottage.  
  
"Umm, Heero. Is there a particular reason that you're taking him to your house instead of the palace?" Quatre asked.  
  
"I'm sure he will feel better waking up in a small house instead of waking up in that big stone monstrosity. Plus Shinigami will most likely be looking in on him sooner or later, and if we keep him in my house it will cause less confusion when she does," Heero replied stonily as he eased open his door and slipped inside his three-room cottage. It contained a main room, which served as a living room, a dining room and a small kitchen. To the right was Heero's bedroom and there was also a small spare bedroom in the back. He took the unconscious boy into the spare room and laid him on the cot that he kept in it. The others followed him in.  
  
"There is nothing we can do for him until he wakes up," Quatre began, "except for keeping him cool and comfortable." Quatre kneeled next to the cot to examine the young man once again, the last time he really hadn't gotten a very good look at him. Quatre looked at the boy and gasped.  
  
"What is it, koi?" Trowa asked the blonde lord.  
  
"You see this gem?" Quatre asked, gesturing to an amethyst that was hung on a chain that encircled the boy's forehead (it had previously been hidden by his chestnut colored bangs). The others nodded. "Well, it means that he is the slave to someone of great importance," Quatre informed the others. An ominous silence filled the room while they all digested that particular piece of information.  
  
Finally Heero broke the silence. "So."  
  
"Well it means one of two things, he's either here looking for help, or he ran away," Quatre replied.  
  
"And what will happen if he has run away?" Heero asked harshly.  
  
"I suppose that that all depends on his reason," Quatre stated as he rose to his feet and dusted off his loose white pants.  
  
"What exactly is that supposed to mean?" Heero questioned.  
  
"Heero, he belongs to someone, we can't just set him free for no reason at all," Quatre replied harshly. "Now if you'll excuse us, we have some business to attend to, don't we Trowa?" Quatre added. Trowa, Quatre's chief advisor as well as lover nodded and they exited.  
  
"I'd best be going as well Yuy, notify us if anything happens, alright?" Wufei, who was a foreign diplomat that had come to visit and never left, said as he, too, exited. Heero, the general of Quatre's army, calmly moved a chair next to the cot, filled a pitcher with water and waited for the sleeping youth to awaken. As he waited, Heero studied the face of the delicate boy. The boy's skin and face were obviously pale under the dirt that covered it; it was also just as obviously handsome. The boy's sweat soaked chestnut-colored bangs clung to his forehead while long chestnut lashes rest on his cheeks. The boy would have been perfect if it wasn't for the dirt that marred his face and the fact that his lips were dry and cracked.  
  
While Heero was contemplating this, a dark figure crept soundlessly up to the window. Heero looked up; it was Shinigami. Heero shook his head slightly; he truly pitied the poor fool who discovered the mare's absence. The dark mare stuck her head in the window and lipped the chestnut haired boy's cloak in a melancholy sort of way. Heero wondered once again how on Earth the boy had come to mean so much to Shini when she hadn't even seen him before today. 'How did he come to mean so much to you, you've only known him for one day as well,' a small voice in the back of his head mocked. 'How indeed,' thought Heero.  
  
Heero was startled out of his thoughts when the boy on the cot shifted and moaned low in his throat. Heero watched silently as the boy's eyes flickered open. They closed immediately to the brightly-lit room, Heero didn't even see what color they were. The boy let out another low moan. Shinigami let out a quiet nicker. The boy sat up abruptly, startling Heero into standing. The boy's eyes cracked open, revealing only that they were a dark color. When he caught sight of Heero he pushed himself against the wall right next to the window.  
  
"Where am I?" the boy's voice was gruff from misuse.  
  
"I think I am the one who should be looking for answers," Heero replied coldly. The boy's eyes widened revealing them to be the most interesting shade that Heero had ever seen, violet. The boy locked eyes with him, something that slaves were not exactly permitted to do. "You are a slave," Heero said, it was neither a question nor a demand, just a statement.  
  
"Oh I'm sorry, am I supposed to bow down to you and worship the ground you walk on?" the violet-eyed boy sneered. Before Heero could reply, Shini had gently butted her head against the boy's. He in turn lifted a pale hand to caress her cheek. All the while the boy had kept an intense glare on Heero. He didn't even turn to look at the horse.  
  
"Nothing like that, I was just stating a fact," Heero replied spreading his hands in a pacifying gesture. It was obvious to him that whoever this boy was he had only recently become a slave, for no long time slave would ever have the brass to talk to a free man like that.  
  
"Good, cause there is no way that I'd do it, I bow to no one," the boy replied. Meanwhile the curious mare had tugged the hood of his cloak off of his head, and pulled a long chestnut braid out of the back of said cloak. Heero's eyes widened slightly at the sight of the three-foot long braid that the boy wore.  
  
"What is your name?" Heero demanded.  
  
"I really don't think that that is any of your business," the braided boy's voice raised slightly in anger.  
  
"Whether it is or isn't my business, you still have to answer, slave," Heero replied, he was getting rather frustrated himself.  
  
"I don't have to do anything," the boy sneered angrily, his reply was accompanied by a deadly glare. Shinigami also seemed upset, she stretched her neck out and snapped at Heero. This more than anything startled the general, Shinigami had not even pretended to snap at him since she and Wing had mated. Heero decided that perhaps being forceful was not the correct approach to this situation, he relented and decided that he should be more civil.  
  
"Perhaps you are correct, you really don't have to do anything I say, but I would like a name," Heero said his tone much gentler than it had been. The boy's anger seemed to melt away, and a small smile replaced his glare. Shinigami also calmed down and picked up the boy's braid and gently lipped it.  
  
"Fine, I guess I can handle giving you a name," the braided one began, "After all, Shini obviously thinks pretty highly of you, otherwise she would have really bit you." Heero's eye's widened with shock. 'How does he know Shinigami?' "My name is Duo, and you are?"  
  
"Heero, my name is Heero. How do you know Shinigami?"  
  
"How do I know?" Duo began in a confused tone. "I forgot that Shini was gone, how did she get here? For that matter where is here?!" Duo exclaimed, slightly panicky.  
  
"Shinigami belongs to the lord of this fortress, how do you know of her," Heero informed the braided man. Duo snatched his braid out of the mare's mouth and stared at Heero.  
  
"They really DID sell her, those jerks! Man, what on Earth have I gotten myself into now?" Duo muttered to himself. Heero cleared his throat, bringing the boy's attention back to him. "Umm, well you see, Shini here belonged to me not too long ago," Duo began. Heero raised an eyebrow at this statement, they both knew that slaves could own nothing, especially not something as precious as a horse. "I wasn't always a slave you know," Duo informed Heero, "and I won't go back to being one, if you try to make me, I will run away again." Duo's face was a mask of seriousness, and Heero had the feeling that that was rare for this boy. On top of that, his violet orbs informed Heero of just how far he would go to fulfill his last statement.  
  
"I have no intention of making you do anything, but my lord may insist on returning you to whomever you belong," Heero replied truthfully, he honestly didn't want this enigma of a boy to go anywhere, especially back into slavery. Duo studied the serious solider in front of him, while Heero studied Duo as well. Their contemplative silence was broken by Quatre opening the door and stepping into the room.  
  
"Heero, dinner is read..." Quatre trailed off as he noticed that not only was the traveler awake, but he and Heero were staring at each other intensely. Quatre got a good look at the formerly unconscious boy, he took in the wide violet eyes, the three-foot long braid, and the slight smile curving his lips--it all seemed kind of familiar to him. Suddenly his eyes widened to the size of saucers. "D-Duo, is that you?" Quatre whispered in astonishment.  
  
********  
  
Wufei drummed his fingers on the table, what was keeping Quatre? He sent a questioning glance at Trowa. Trowa merely shrugged, he had no idea what was keeping his lover. Wufei snorted--he was hungry and he wanted dinner, he did not want to wait for Quatre and Heero.  
  
"The traveler is probably holding them up somehow," Trowa said quietly.  
  
"Do you think he woke up then?" asked Wufei irritably.  
  
"Perhaps," Trowa responded.  
  
********  
  
"Q-man!!!" Duo exclaimed as he launched himself off the cot and glomped onto Quatre. "Jeez Heero, you could have told me the lord of this place was Quatre, humph all that worrying for nothing," the braided boy tossed back at Heero before turning his attention back on Quatre, whom he was still glomped onto. "Do you know how hard it is to find you? You could have told me you lived in a desert; it would have made everything so much easier! You have no idea how glad I am to see you!"  
  
"Duo, what are you doing here? And what is with the..." Quatre was interrupted by Heero clearing his throat loudly. Both Quatre and Duo turned to look at him and Duo released Quatre and stood on his own.  
  
"What is going on here? How do you two know each other?" Heero questioned the two smaller boys. Quatre blushed a little and Duo grinned.  
  
"Well Heero, this is Duo--" Quatre began.  
  
"I know that," Heero glared at the two.  
  
"--My cousin," Quatre finished. Heero got a rather shocked look on his face that he quickly wiped away; Duo giggled at his reaction.  
  
"I thought that you said that you had no blood relations other than your sisters," Heero resumed glaring to cover up the slip he had just made in his cold facade.  
  
"Quatre *doesn't* have any blood relations other than his sisters," Duo replied with a wicked grin.  
  
"But you just said that he was your cousin," Heero said. He was confused, but he would rather die than admit it.  
  
"He is my cousin--actually, he's my nephew, through adoption," Quatre clarified. Heero nodded, he understood now.  
  
"Yup, Q-man's sis adopted me when I was around eight," Duo added.  
  
"Then how did you become a slave?" Heero asked with a raised eyebrow. Duo shook his head sadly.  
  
"It is a very long story, and I believe that Q said something about dinner, I would prefer to explain after I get something to eat," Duo said, just then his stomach let out a loud rumble. Quatre giggled.  
  
"Yes, we best be getting there, I'm sure that Wufei and Trowa are tired of waiting by now," Quatre replied.  
  
"What are we going to do about her?" Heero said gesturing at Shinigami, "She can't just stay out all night." Duo walked over to the window and rubbed the black mare's nose.  
  
"Hey babe, as great as it is to see you, I can't hang till later, so you go wait in the stables and don't cause any trouble okay?" Duo said. Heero and Quatre watched in amazement as the normally impossible mare obediently trotted off toward the stable.  
  
"How did you get her to do that!" Quatre exclaimed.  
  
"Shini always does what I say," Duo shrugged. "But she does have a problem when other people tell her what to do." Heero chuckled quietly, drawing curious glances from his companions.  
  
"Wait until Wufei hears about that," Heero said, causing Quatre to chuckle as well.  
  
"He'll never believe it," Quatre said.  
  
"Who, and why not, and are we going to go to dinner?" Duo questioned.  
  
"Oh right, I'll have to introduce you to Wufei and Trowa. Wufei has had a little trouble with Shinigami, he believes she should be more disciplined, like his mare Nataku. Wufei is a stickler for justice, honor, and discipline. He was a visiting diplomat, he never really left," Quatre explained.  
  
"Oh. And who is Trowa?" Duo replied. Quatre blushed. "Ooh, he's your koi, isn't he?" Duo accused with a wicked smile. Quatre blushed some more, and nodded.  
  
"He's also my chief advisor," Quatre said. Duo nodded and grinned in response. "Let's get to dinner so you can meet them." They began to exit the room with Heero following behind them. Unexpectedly, Duo faltered and fell to his knees, the exhaustion that he had been hiding becoming evident once more.  
  
"Duo, are you okay?" Quatre asked his eyes filled with worry.  
  
"I'm fine Q-man, I'm just a little tired," Duo replied with a weak smile.  
  
"Hn, you should still be in bed resting, you collapsed from heat exhaustion, dehydration, and who knows what else," Heero said sternly. Duo chuckled.  
  
"You're probably right, but you don't want to see what I'm like when bed rest is forced upon me, right Q-man?" Duo laughed as Quatre and Heero helped him back to his feet.  
  
"I remember that, do you know that to this day Rashid still can't hear your name or even Helen's name, without shuddering?" Quatre replied with a giggle. Duo laughed loudly.  
  
"I'll just bet that he's thrilled to see me then," Duo chuckled. The three young men began heading toward the palace and dinner once again, this time Quatre and Heero were each holding onto one of Duo's arms to prevent another collapse. All the way to the dining hall Duo and Quatre kept up a steady stream of cheerful chatter and reminiscing.  
  
In no time Heero, Duo, and Quatre were entering the dining hall. At the sound of the doors opening, Trowa and Wufei spun around to see their late companions.  
  
"Where have you been, Quatre? We've been waiting forever," Wufei said with an imperious sniff. Then he noticed Duo. "What? Who is that? Is that the boy you picked up this afternoon, Yuy? What is he doing here?" Wufei asked; the boy was a slave after all; slaves didn't eat with people as important as they were.  
  
"Sheesh what's his problem?" Duo whispered to Heero, who smirked in reply.  
  
"Wufei, Trowa, this is Duo," Quatre began, Duo waved cheerfully at them. "Duo is not a slave, or at least he wasn't last time I saw him, and he is my cousin." Wufei sputtered at this new revelation.  
  
"Wasn't aware that you had a cousin, love," Trowa replied quietly.  
  
"You must be Trowa," Duo said cheerfully. "I'm only Q's cousin, well really his nephew, but we've always felt like and called each other cousins, through adoption, and we don't see each other a lot, which is probably why you haven't heard of me." Trowa nodded in acknowledgement.  
  
"Quatre, can we please commence with this meal, I have waited long enough!" Wufei exclaimed, he did not like waiting, and he did not like being surprised.  
  
"You must be Wufei," Duo said. "No wonder Shini doesn't like you."  
  
"Are you referring to that impossible mare!?" Wufei exclaimed.  
  
"Hey! Shinigami is a lot of things, but she is not impossible," Duo said, wrinkling his nose at Wufei. Wufei snorted at that comment.  
  
"We should start dinner now," Quatre said, taking his seat next to Trowa. Seeing the chance that Quatre threw out, Heero guided Duo to a seat and sat him down, hoping to stop the argument between the two others before it could get any worse. Luckily it worked.  
  
Everyone chatted idly during dinner--Duo and Quatre chatted, Trowa and Wufei gave their opinions occasionally and Heero just listened. Duo managed to not only keep up a steady stream of chatter but to inhale vast quantities of food. Heero reasoned that he probably hadn't had anything to eat for a long time and so he was making up for it, Quatre could have told him that this was normal behavior for his braided cousin. During the meal Wufei and Duo somehow managed to be rude and civil to each other at the same time, it was obvious that they weren't very pleased with each other, even though they had only just met.  
  
The meal was over far too soon for Duo's tastes, not because he was still hungry, but because he knew that after they finished he was going to have to explain what had happened to lead to his current circumstances, and it was not a pleasant tale. After dinner they all went into one of the parlors, Heero supported Duo all the way there, and sat next to him (just in case he should be feeling weak again, of course). Quatre had one of the Magaunacs bring them wine, which Duo declined.  
  
"Well cousin, I think that now is a good time for you to tell us your story," Quatre said to Duo.  
  
"I figured as much," Duo said. "It all began back when 'kassan died, and I was put in charge of the estate..." Duo began while the others listened attentively  
  
**Flashback**  
  
"I have considered your offer very extensively Lord Marquise, and I'm afraid that I must decline," Duo informed the dignitary sitting across from him coldly, the stern expression and cold tone seemed out of place on the normally cheerful young man.  
  
"But Maxwell-kun, my offer benefit both of our families immensely," Zechs Marquise insisted. Duo hated Zechs, he hated his persistence, he hated Zechs's refusal to call him lord, and he hated Zechs's adopted sister Relena, oh and his hair, he loathed Zechs's hair.  
  
"I am afraid Lord Marquise that I can not accept your offer to marry your sister Relena. While it seems a good idea from a political standpoint, I do not believe that it is in my personal interest, I apologize for any time that you have wasted. If you will excuse me, Dairenis will show you out," Duo said in polite clipped tones. He then stood and exited the room, leaving behind an enraged Zechs who was quickly shown out by Duo's servant Dairenis (Duo had servants, not slaves, he didn't believe in slaves).  
  
Once out of the room Duo slumped against the wall, he was so tired of this. Zechs had started in on him only a month after his adopted ''kassan' had died. Duo knew that Zechs would have never approached his mother with this idea, because it was a well-known fact that she believed that people should only marry for love and nothing else, Duo couldn't agree more. Not only was he barely of age to marry, but had also never gotten along with Relena. Duo knew good and well that Zechs was only looking for the benefits he would receive. The Marquise family had always wanted the Maxwell land, and should he marry Relena he had no doubt that Zechs would try to get rid of him claiming he had no right to rule. Seeing how he was not of noble blood, and Relena was it would be only a matter of time until Zechs had Duo booted off of his own land.  
  
Duo pushed off the wall and headed towards his quarters. Worried servants flocked towards him asking if he needed anything, the servants had always liked him as he treated them fairly and kindly. He declined their offers and smiled as he waved them off; they worried when he didn't smile. His smile and his persistent response of not needing them finally got rid of them and he was able to flee to the relative peace of his room.  
  
Once safely in his room Duo let his cheerful mask slip, and he began to pace around his room. Zechs had been becoming more and more insistent in the past weeks, so Duo had been forced to straight out refuse. He knew that Zechs was bound to be enraged by his refusal, and he was worried that the 'honorable Lord Marquise' would seek some sort of revenge, or perhaps a way to force the engagement upon Duo. The braided noble collapsed on his bed and chewed on the end of his braid absently he was not prepared to run this estate. He had always known that he would have to run it some day, but he hadn't expected it to come so soon. His 'kassan's illness had come so swiftly and had taken her so fast that there was no time for Duo to prepare himself for the task that had come after her death. His training had begun the year that his 'father' had died, so that he would be ready, but still he wasn't.  
  
****  
  
It had been weeks since his refusal of the engagement, and he had heard nothing from Marquise. Normally he would find this reassuring, and be grateful that Zechs had given up, but it felt too much like the calm before the storm, and Duo was worried. The violet-eyed lord was on edge; he couldn't shake the premonition that something bad was going to happen. His only relief from the stress came from the long rides he took nightly on Shinigami, but even those weren't totally relaxing, cause he still had to be on his guard, and he always carried a weapon.  
  
On one of his rides he was indeed attacked by about twenty men. They came out of the forest and onto his trail quickly. They had him surrounded. A few had horses, but most were on foot. The ones on horses charged in and engaged him in combat. Duo was a good fighter, but unfortunately one lucky shot from behind sent him flying off Shinigami with a large wound on his head. Once on the ground the other fighters converged on him. He struggled with about fifteen men, he had a sword, but then again so did most of the men, and the others had clubs. While he was fighting the rest of his attackers were struggling to hold back Shinigami, the mare was in a rare rage at seeing her master attacked.  
  
The fight continued, Duo had put several men out of the fight, but the rest were still coming at him. One of the men threw a dagger; it sunk deep into Duo's upper arm. Duo screamed with pain. At the sound of his scream Shinigami tore from the grasp of the men who were holding her. The black mare raced over to her master. Duo somehow managed to climb on top of his faithful horse, and they were off. Shinigami galloped through the forest dodging trees and ditches.  
  
After Duo was sure that he had lost his attackers, he stopped Shini next to a stream. He slid down off of his horse and sunk to his knees beside the water. He had a great deal of cuts and bruises. The wound on his head was bleeding sluggishly, and he had a dagger through his arm. At this point life basically sucked. The braided one struggled out of his tunic careful not to jar his injured left arm. Once it was off he tore the delicate material into strips. Duo soaked a few of the strips and wrapped them around the wound on the back of his head. He them turned his concentration onto the dagger. He gently grasped the hilt of the dagger and swiftly pulled it out. Then he wrapped the rest of the strips around it. After he had finished that, it all became too much for him, and he collapsed by the stream, with Shinigami standing guard over him.  
  
Duo awoke around sunrise of the next day, with a splitting headache and a throbbing left arm, he groaned. The young lord pushed himself to his feet and whistled for Shinigami, the mare had gone a short way to graze. At his whistle the magnificent mare trotted back over to him. "Hey Shini, thanks for your help last night," Duo said as he mounted her. "We had better get back to the house, I have a bad feeling about what may have happened last night." With that said the black mare galloped soundlessly into the forest and back towards the estate.  
  
Duo stopped Shinigami at the edge of the forest, something was wrong. There were guards on the outer wall. Duo's eyes narrowed, he had no guards. Then he saw a dark figure stalking through the shadows away from the manor. It was Dairenis. Duo whistled to catch his attention, Dairenis spun toward him and sprinted for the area he was in.  
  
"Mater Duo, are you all right?" Dairenis said as soon as he saw Duo.  
  
"I thought I told you to quit with the formal stuff," Duo replied. "And yes I'm fine, what happened?"  
  
"Lord Marquise has taken over the estate! We might have been able to stop him, but I told the others not to, I didn't want to see anyone get hurt. I apologize for not fulfilling my duty," Dairenis hung his head in shame.  
  
"You have nothing to apologize for, no estate is worth any of you losing your blood," Duo told. "I believe that it is time for me to have a chat with Zechs." Duo had a positively wicked grin.  
  
"But, Duo you could be hurt," Dairenis said in an attempt to stop Duo from confronting the mad Lord.  
  
"I will not just stand by and have my home be stolen!" Duo exclaimed.  
  
"Duo, if you go in there now you could be killed, and that would do nothing but please Zechs," Dairenis reminded him.  
  
"He won't kill me, and I am going in there," Duo said. "You get out of here and go find somewhere else to work, just stay away from Zechs," Duo demanded.  
  
"As you wish lord," Dairenis said, suddenly he found himself in a bone- crushing hug.  
  
"I'll miss you Dair," Duo told him.  
  
"And I you Duo, and I you," Dair whispered back. Duo released him and mounted Shinigami once again. Duo then road right out of the forest and through the gate into his estate.  
  
Once he was inside the walls guards immediately converged on him, demanding to know who he was, and what his business was. "You will take me to Lord Marquise," Duo demanded. The guards laughed at him, they thought he was joking, they thought it was hilarious. Until Duo tried to ride past them, then they threw him and Shinigami out of the grounds and slammed the gate.  
  
Duo looked up at the closed and locked gate and swore, in several different languages. 'Now what am I going to do?!' Duo thought in frustration. "Great, not only is my head about to break in half, and my arm's about to fall off, but I'm also locked out of my house with only the clothes on my back, and the horse under my butt," Duo grumbled. "What am I going to do, no one here will help me." Duo guided Shinigami away from the closed gate to their former home. "Everyone here has always looked down on me because 'I'm not noble born'. The whole nobility thing is stupid. I've met plenty of 'nobles' that wouldn't even be able to make it as peasants, much less leaders. Plus I've met plenty of 'lower born' people who would make wonderful leaders, but can't because of their birthright," the long haired young man continued to mumble as he road away from the last place he had called home with no direction in mind.  
  
Shinigami nickered in what had to be agreement; after all she was a wild horse until Duo found her. They continued to walk aimlessly, they were heading vaguely to the east. "I have no family but you Shini, where can I go?" Duo whispered in his mare's ear. "Wait a minute that's not true!! 'Kassan has that whole horde of sisters, and there's still cousin Quatre, I'll bet you anything that he could help!!!" Duo exclaimed. The braided one let out an exuberant whoop and immediately turned Shinigami towards the west and spurred her into a gallop. "I'm not positive where Q-man lives, but I do know that it's to the west!!"  
  
**Several weeks later**  
  
"Man Shini, absolutely no one knows where the Magaunac settlement is! This has to be like the hundredth person that I've asked and all that I've heard is that it's to the west. Ch' I'm starting to get discouraged," Duo murmured to the mare as he rode away from yet another town. No one seemed to know where his cousin's settlement was, it was depressing, and Duo was running out of money. If he didn't find something fast he would either have to find a job, or go back to being the thief he had been before he was adopted. Most likely it would be the latter, who would hire a dirty, bedraggled, teenager who had like no skills, well no skills except thievery, and an affinity for people.  
  
So thievery it was. He had already sold every thing else. The stirrups had been the first to go they had bought him some new clothes, as it was not a good idea for him to ride around with a bare chest. The rest of his tack had gone towards food, and lodging, and other sorts of common necessities. At this point he was down to riding bareback, in dirty but durable clothes, and only enough food to last him one more day, so stealing it was, unless by some miracle someone wanted to hire him.  
  
****  
  
Duo sighed, that was strike three. He had been to all three of the shops where he might actually be able to do something, and all three shop owners had throw him out, things were definitely looking down. On top of that he was in a rather poor settlement so there was no one that he would be willing to steal from. Stealing from rich pompous noble's was one thing, stealing from the poor was out of the question. He ambled back over to Shinigami who was waiting for him at the edge of the town. Just as he had climbed onto her, he heard it. It was the sound of trumpets announcing a visiting noble. Duo grinned maybe things weren't so bad after all. Duo galloped Shini back into the city and in to a dark alley so that he could watch the precession. If the noble seemed rich, and wasn't somehow related to his ''kassan', then he would be reliving them of some small expensive trinkets.  
  
As the precession began to move through the city Duo's eyes widened, it was huge! The whole thing screamed rich and powerful, and not only that but it was also rather rude. Whoever the noble was that headed the precession, they were being pushy to the people, and snobby, and just plain rude. Duo smiled an evil grin, oh yes was he ever going to some nice trinkets tonight. The braided one and Shinigami trailed behind the noble. They were waiting till nightfall to strike.  
  
That night the whole precession stopped and set up an elaborate camp, full of rich tents and surrounded be smaller tents, all of which surrounded a huge tent that could only belong to whatever lord owned all this stuff. Next to it was a smaller well-guarded tent, the tent that held tributes. As a lord traveled all the others lords he met up with were "allowed" to pay him tributes, it was an unavoidable tradition that when not fulfilled was cause enough for war. Which meant that there was bound to be tons of good stuff in that tent.  
  
Duo sneaked in after everything had been settled down for the night. The guards around the tent were almost asleep; they figured that since they were in the middle of nowhere there would be no one to steal from them, boy were they wrong. Once inside the tent Duo began browsing through the treasures, looking for small valuable trinkets that could easily be misplaced on a journey such as this. He was an expert at this sort of thing, one of the best tricks is to make it so that they don't even realize something is missing until you are as far away from them as you can get. Then he saw something that made him freeze; there among the tributes was a small bejeweled box with an intricate lock. Duo grabbed the frail chain around his neck, hanging from that chain was part of the key to that box. The box contained some very important things, not for their worth in money, but for their sentimental value. Inside it held several keepsakes from his father and 'kassan's childhoods, it also contained his only keepsake of his beloved dead brother, Solo.  
  
He could not leave it here, but where was the rest of the key! It should have been placed in the back design, which was where it had been since his 'kassan's death. He and 'kassan had always worn a half of the key each, to keep it safe, when she had died he had fastened her part back onto the lovely box, but it was no longer there. There was no chance that it had simply fallen off, it was fixed on to well for that, it must have been removed. If it was removed, there was only one place it could be, around the neck of the noble that owned it. He could not leave it behind; it was much to precious to him. So he broke his number one rule, he was going to steal the rest of the key off the noble's neck.  
  
  
  
Duo and the Desert by Travaria  
  
Part 2  
  
Duo silently slipped out of the tribute tent, the small box placed in a carefully concealed pouch that hung around his waist. The braided thief then sneaked into the tent of the lord. Inside it was so dark that not even his better than average night vision could help him see much, all he saw was vague out lines and solid objects. He could barley see the noble lying on his huge (yet somehow portable) bed that was covered liberally with feather down comforters pillows, and mattresses. Amidst the heap of comfortable bedclothes lay the noble, and the little light that was in the room glinted off a golden necklace. It had to be the other part of the key; there was nothing else that it could be. Duo reached up and brushed his own silver chain for luck and slowly reached for the other necklace.  
  
Just as Duo was slipping the chain off from the neck of the noble, the tent flap burst open filling the room with light. At the light's intrusion the noble awoke, and when he saw Duo he quickly reached out and grabbed for the violet-eyed boy. Duo managed to duck under his hand, ripping the delicate chain off his neck. At about that time the guard in the doorway recovered from his shock, yelled a warning and lunged at Duo. The lithe boy dodged him as well and bounded out of the tent. Unfortunately the whole camp had been roused by the guard's yell and everyone was hurrying towards him.  
  
Duo let out a piercing whistle and was rewarded with an answering whinny; he'd need Shini's help on this one. Now all he needed to do was to stay free until the mare could get there. Unfortunately about twenty guards were closing in on him and more were on the way. He was clutching the necklace so hard in his hand that he was bleeding, but he was too busy to notice. The box was still tucked in the pouch around his waist, on any other person this would throw their balance off, but Duo had already adjusted. The longhaired thief sighed; this would have been so much easier if he was armed. The guards began to lunge at him, and to straight out attack him. Their clumsy attempts weren't even close; they were getting in each other's way and leaving him way too much room to maneuver. It was pathetic, you'd think they had never done something like this before.  
  
Just then the noble appeared from his tent and began leading the guards. He instructed a group of about thirty to surround Duo; he told the rest to go try to stop the horse. When Duo heard that, he faltered, why would someone send guards after a horse, unless he knew Shini? Duo ran and vaulted over a guard in order to see who was in charge. When Duo landed he looked up, and almost fell over in shock; the noble he had been trying to steal from was none other than Zechs's best 'friend' Treize Khushrenada. The braided one quickly shook off his shock before the guards could take advantage of it, now that they had a leader it was going to be so much harder to get away. Duo bolted, he ran as fast as he could, ducking behind tents, through tents, sometimes even over tents. With the guards after her there was no way Shinigami would be able to reach him, so he decided that he would reach her. Unfortunately the guards were right behind them, if he looked back he could see them. A group of twenty guys all chasing after little old him.  
  
Wait a minute, his thoughts came to a screeching halt, 'Twenty, but there were thirty!' Duo realized his mistake, but he was too late, the other ten guys had cut through the camp, and he had literally run into them. In fact Duo and one of the guards that had tried to stop him were both on the ground, the force of Duo's headlong sprint had sent them tumbling. Duo quickly stood up, but he wasn't quite quick enough, the rest of the guards had surrounded him, he was doomed. Duo normally would have kept fighting until he was completely unable to go on, but, he heard an enraged whinny from Shini meaning that she was captured to, and he really didn't want to be a pathetic mass of pain when he was confronted by Treize. Not to mention that he was an expert at untying himself, with really good knots he could be out in about twenty minutes, in easy knots a few minutes were enough for him to break free. So he surrendered, he held up his hands, and let on of the guards grab them and tie them together. The knots were medium, about a ten minute untying job.  
  
One of the guards ran and told Khushrenada that they had apprehended the thief. Duo snorted to himself, they were like little puppies begging for attention from their 'master', it was sickening. The guard came back and told the leader of the guards that Treize wanted them to bring the thief to his conference tent, the lord wanted to 'meet' the one who was able to get past his guards so easily. When Duo heard that he almost burst out laughing, with guards like these he was surprised that more people didn't steal from him. The guards who were holding him began to drag him towards the tent rather roughly. "Hey watch it, just because I'm a thief doesn't mean you get to knock me around," Duo snarled when they got to rough.  
  
"Oh, so the big 'thief' speaks," mocked one of the guards who were dragging him, "I was beginning to wonder if you knew how."  
  
"I know a lot more than you think gorilla-man," Duo said in a sarcastically sweet voice.  
  
"Watch it pretty boy," the guard growled, "or you'll find your self in more trouble than you can handle!"  
  
"I doubt it, after all how hard could it be to get past a guy with the IQ of an earth worm," Duo replied with a cheerful grin. Luckily for the braided maniac they had reached the conference tent so all the irritated guard could do was snarl at him. Duo entered the tent (so he was sort of forced in, but hey it was kinda voluntary) with his head held high, he looked down for no one, not even when he was captured. Plus the comforting feeling of the necklace clutched in his hand and the weight of the box at his side gave him courage. Two of the guards stood to either side of the tent flap, just in case they were needed, the rest left. "Why hello Treize fancy meeting you in a place like this!" Duo exclaimed cheerfully as soon as he saw the noble. Treize froze momentarily in shock, but he recovered his smugly polite air rather quickly, but not quickly enough, Duo was already fighting off giggles at the expression he had had.  
  
"Well, well, Duo, you're supposed to be dead," Treize lifted an eloquent eyebrow.  
  
"I was?" Duo feigned shock. "I'm crushed that you would believe me dead so easily."  
  
"I did have it on rather good authority that you were killed by a band of robbers," Treize replied nonchalantly.  
  
"Perhaps you should tell Zechs that he needs spend more money next time, those hit men weren't nearly up to par," the violet eyed boy replied in a mocking tone. Treize's cornflower gaze turned cold.  
  
"You shouldn't go around making false accusations Maxwell," Treize practically hissed, all the polite smugness gone. "You never know what may happen to you if you do." Duo couldn't help it, he laughed. It wasn't that there was anything particularly funny happening, as a matter of fact, Duo was more scared now then he had been in a long time. He just used the laughter as a mask, to make others think he wasn't afraid and to deal with his fear. He began to struggle with his ropes. "You find something amusing, Duo," Treize sneered eloquently.  
  
Duo grinned a rather maniac grin. "Why not? You are so much more amusing when you lose control 'Lord' Treize," Duo smirked. He knew he shouldn't be doing this, but it might give him the time he needed to untie the ropes. Treize gained a positively wicked little smirk.  
  
"Well, what on earth am I going to do with you?" Treize began, completely ignoring the other man's bait.  
  
"You could just let me go, so I could go along my merry way and never bother you or 'Lord' Marquise ever again," Duo replied. It was a long shot, but hey, he might as well try. Treize laughed, and it wasn't a pleasant laugh.  
  
"Ah, but Duo you are believed to be dead, it just wouldn't do to have you running around messing with Zechs's plans," Treize said in a very fake tone of regret. "Hmm, what else could be done with you. Perhaps, I will just have to keep you." Duo's eyes widened in shock he didn't mean...he did, he must, why else would he have that smug little smirk on his face. The braided one began to struggle even more in his bonds, he had to get them off, or else he would become part of Treize's little slave entourage. "Guards grab him! Quickly before he escapes!" Treize yelled.  
  
Duo swore internally, he was so close to getting free. One of the gorilla guards lunged at him, trying to grab a hold of him. Duo nimbly leaped aside and jumped for the opening in the tent. Unfortunately one of the guards moved in front of him while he was in mid-leap! There was no chance to change direction, Duo slammed into the guard and both of them tumbled to the ground. The violet eyed boy shook his head and stood preparing to get the hell out of there. Just as he began, strong arms grabbed him from behind; the other guard made his appearance known once more. This time Duo swore out loud, and in a startling array of languages.  
  
"Tsk tsk, that is not language that a noble should use," Treize lectured from behind the guard and Duo. "Perhaps it is for the best that you aren't one. Now guards listen to me very closely, I want you to take him to the prisoner tent. I want you to have ten alert guards on duty around that tent at all times. And when you bind him, use the manacles, not ropes. For if the rumors are true then Duo here would be able to escape ropes, and we couldn't have that. Oh yes, and take the mare, Shinigami to the pen with the other horses, tie her to the far end," Treize instructed the guards before motioning them to leave.  
  
Duo struggled fiercely as they took him to the tent. But it was to no avail; the guard who was holding him was simply much to strong for him to over come. Duo still kept it up though, there was always a chance, and he wouldn't stop trying until he found his. Although the chances looked pretty slim once they had managed to manacle his hands, and chain him in a tent with no lights. Duo sighed; things just weren't going the way he had planned. 'Man this sucks!" Duo thought angrily, 'I can't believe this is happening! Why would he want to keep me? He knows how much trouble I am!' Duo shook his head sadly; it looked like the situation had finally gotten out of his hands. Luckily though, in all the confusion Treize had forgotten about the necklace and the box. Duo carefully tucked the necklace into the pouch with the box; they were not going to take those from him.  
  
**A few weeks later**  
  
Duo was sick of this. He was sick of being lead around by Treize like he was a puppy. He was sick of being glared, sneered, and worst of all leered at. Mostly he was sick of being a slave. That was what he was now, thanks to Treize. In other words he was in deep trouble, and it didn't look like he would be getting out of it very soon. Every time he rebelled, he was punished, either by beatings or manual labor sometimes threats. After they caught him trying to run away they said they were selling Shinigami at the next town they came through. Duo hadn't seen Shini since the night he was captured, so he wasn't sure if they really had. The worst part though, the absolute worst part was Treize, and his 'offers'. Duo had finally figured out why Treize kept him instead of killing him, or turning him in, and the reason repulsed him. Treize wanted him, literally, figuratively, and any other 'ly that was out there, it made the unfortunate braided boy want to throw up.  
  
Right then it was late, and getting dark. Soon the guards would be there to haul him away from his work (taking care of the animals) and to take him to Treize. This was his least favorite part of the day; he never wanted to see Treize again. The most frustrating part was that Duo had figured out how to unlock the manacles, but he had no chance to escape as he was guarded heavily all day, and all night. All he needed was a tiny little lapse in the guards' vigilance and he would be out of here. Not that he knew where he was; as a matter of fact they were currently moving southwest through a vast desert.  
  
The guards were coming; Duo's workday was over. The braided boy shuddered, they would drag him off to see Treize, and he would present the same question that he always did. Duo would reply as he always did, and then the guards would haul him off to his tent and chain him down, leaving him only a bowl of water that he was forced to drink out of like a dog. One of the guards, the one that Duo had taunted the night he was caught, grabbed his arm and roughly pulled him over the fence. Once the unfortunate boy had cleared the top, the guard let go of him, causing Duo to fall painfully  
  
"Get up pretty boy," the guard--Shalen--sneered. "We wouldn't want you to be late for your meeting with Lord Treize." Shalen again grabbed Duo's arm and forced him to his feet. Duo, being Duo spat in his face. Shalen pulled back his fist and hit Duo with a nasty right hook to his cheek. Duo flew a good three feet before crashing to the ground. Despite being tired, hurt, and suffering from malnutrition Duo was on his feet immediately, he turned away from Shalen and ran for it. He knew there was no way he would make it, but he tried anyway. Within seconds Shalen had grabbed him again, and punched him some more, this time keeping a tight grip on Duo's arm. After all of that, Duo had a black eye, and his mouth and nose were bleeding heavily. "You should know better slave! Do not resist, you must do everything you are told, for you're just a pathetic little slave!" Shalen growled in Duo's ear. "You shouldn't resist your masters, no matter what they ask of you! You will submit to us one day slave, and on that day, you shall truly be the slave that you were bred to be," Shalen snarled. "And you will break, everyone breaks eventually. It doesn't matter how tough you think you are pretty boy, you will be broken." With that Shalen dragged him to Treize's tent and shoved him inside. Shalen then took his post as part of the loose circle that surrounded their Lord's tent. Treize had ordered them to wait outside while he talked to Duo. All the guards knew that Treize could handle the boy should he try anything. Never the less they surrounded the tent in case the slave managed to do something.  
  
"Well, well Duo, it looks like you've been bothering your superiors again," Treize mocked when he got a look at Duo's bleeding face.  
  
"None of those illiterate gorillas are superior to Shinigami's fleas, much less me," Duo snarled at the pompous noble. Treize walked up to the braided one and grabbed his arm.  
  
"Well my pet," the noble purred seductively, "have you thought more on my offer."  
  
"Go to hell Treize," Duo replied leaning as far from the noble's touch as he could.  
  
"Now, now pet, slave, you could have a much better life if you would just agree," Treize whispered in Duo's ear hotly, "you could be free, I could give you what ever you wanted. To have your freedom, and to have any treasures that you desire you need only say that you will be mine forever. You need only let me take you, and then you could be not only free, but nobility once more. "  
  
"Don't make me repeat myself Treize, go to hell, go straight to hell," the beautiful violet-eyed boy growled (for some reason he had the irrational urge to add do not pass go do not collect two-hundred dollars). Treize slapped him, hard.  
  
"I shall warn you now, do not refuse this offer, or you will be sorry, very sorry," Treize replied in an annoyed tone. "I'll ask you only once more, do you except my offer!"  
  
"Treize, I would rather marry Relena, I would rather be a slave all my life, I would rather be a street brat, I would rather be eaten alive, I would rather die in the most painful way possible than to give myself to you!" Duo spat the words out in an angry rush and waited for the blow that he knew would be coming. It never came, Treize called in the guards and asked them to pound a stake into the ground in his tent. Duo's eyes widened, he couldn't mean to keep him in here. But he did, Treize was having Duo chained to a stake inside his tent, Duo shuddered violently, he prayed that Treize wouldn't touch him. The braided boy could take the beatings, the hard labor, the starvation, but if Treize did anything like that to him, he wouldn't be able to handle that.  
  
The guards chained Duo to the stake, with his hands manacled behind his back. The braided boy was terrified, he was having a very difficult time keeping himself from trembling, it wouldn't do to show Treize weakness. Treize ordered the guards to ring the outside edges of the camp, instead of his tent, they reluctantly obeyed, and Duo was left all alone with Treize Khushrenada. And he was helpless, he could escape from the manacles, but if Treize were watching him, then Treize would be able to stop him. Duo bit back a fearful whimper; Treize had pulled out a large leather whip.  
  
"You should have agreed with my conditions Maxwell, for I will have you one day," Treize growled. "But that day will not be today, it will be soon, but not today," he continued, "I will have to punish you for disobeying me slave. I will break you, maybe not tonight, maybe not in a week or two or three, but you will break under my whip. When I am through with you, you will beg me to take you." Treize was angry, and he was going to take it out on Duo. Khushrenada was used to getting everything that he wanted, and he wanted Duo, one way or another.  
  
Treize approached Duo and the violet-eyed boy flinched away from him. Duo knew he was acting like a coward, but he was scared, and he was helpless. Treize ripped Duo's shirt off revealing his pale muscular chest and back. Duo closed his eyes and tensed waiting for the descent of the whip. The free noble brought one foot down on Duo's back, knocking him flat on his stomach on the floor of the tent. Treize then proceeded to crack the whip several times, adding to the braided boy's anxiety. The older man then brought the whip down; it slashed across Duo's lower back. For then next hour, or two, Duo was in too much pain to be sure how long it was; Treize slowly whipped and beat the unfortunate boy. Treize kept up a steady steam of talk during the whole time, telling Duo how worthless he was, and how he would obey him, and how Treize would enjoy breaking him, and taking him.  
  
After that Treize appeared to have tired he left Duo bleeding and unconscious on the floor and went to bed. About an hour after Treize had fallen asleep, Duo regained his senses. Despite the blindingly painful wounds on Duo's back he was able to realize that now was the perfect time to escape. Treize was asleep, he wasn't guarded nearly as well, and he knew how to get out of the manacles. So Duo did just that, he used what he had learned about the manacles to unfasten them. Once they were off the braided one stood painfully. He would need to find some sort of shirt, and maybe a cloak to protect him from the desert sun. He rifled through Treize's chest of clothes and found an old gray shirt, which Duo slipped on. His back screamed in protest of the contact, but there was no time to think of that, he needed to get out of here. He grabbed a black cloak and slipped that on as well. Duo then touched the hidden pouch that was still around his waist; it held the box and now both necklaces (he had put his in there to protect it from Treize). Everything was in place, it was finally time for him to get out of the place. Duo silently slipped out of the camp, none of the guards so much as thought that they might have seen anything move Duo had always been very good at stealth.  
  
Duo took off in a northwestern direction. North because that would get him away from the camp, and west because they would expect him to go east. The braided boy knew that they would probably catch him easily, but he swore to himself that he would have freedom or die trying. With that thought firmly in place he set off into the desert.  
  
**End Flashback**  
  
"I walked for I don't know how long before I collapsed. The next thing I knew I woke up with Heero standing over me," Duo concluded his tale. The violet-eyed beauty was exhausted physically, mentally, and emotionally, right now all he wanted was a good long soak and bed in that order. The four other occupants of the room stared in shock at the young man who had suffered so much. Finally the silence was broken, and by Heero no less.  
  
"Quatre I think that Duo probably should get some rest now," Heero said quietly. Everyone turned to look at him; it wasn't in Heero's nature to be so caring.  
  
"I'm sorry Duo, you're probably exhausted, I'm sure you would like to get right to bed," Quatre apologized.  
  
"Actually, if I could have some kind of bath first that would be great," Duo said with a shadow of his old grin.  
  
"Of course, the bath is on the third floor, fourth door on the right," Quatre informed him. "I'll have some of my servants bring you up a change of clothes."  
  
"Thanks Q-man," Duo said as he struggled to pull his exhausted body up off of the couch he was seated on. Heero stood and helped him to his feet.  
  
"I shall assist you there. There is no way you can walk on your own," Heero said. The exhausted boy could only smile slightly and nod a reluctant agreement. With that, the two of them left.  
  
Once they were out of the room Quatre sighed. "Poor Duo," the traumatized noble whispered as he snuggled deeper into Trowa's embrace. Trowa nodded in agreement, he genuinely felt bad for the boy. Wufei was surprisingly quiet and thoughtful. "Wufei are you okay?" questioned Quatre.  
  
"You would never guess," Wufei mumbled, almost to himself. Trowa and Quatre exchanged confused looks. "You would never guess from the way he acts that he did put up with all that, that he even could. I have much to think on, I will be retiring now," Wufei said as he excused himself from the room. He had read Duo completely wrong, he couldn't believe that he had been so foolish, that he had fallen for that cheerful exterior. He truly did have much to think on.  
  
"You know what, Quatre?" Trowa said to his small lover quietly.  
  
"What?" Quatre asked.  
  
"I think I like your cousin. He and Heero are good for each other," Trowa answered. Quatre smiled.  
  
"You noticed, too. They do seem to fit nicely," Quatre replied.  
  
"A bit like Shinigami and Wing, ne?" Trowa added. Quatre laughed and nodded. Trowa and him then went to their own room to sleep, it had been a long day and it was late.  
  
********  
  
Heero was helping Duo up the stairs. Duo attempting to climb the stairs in his state was interesting to say the least. Heero was having a hard time resisting his urge to just pick the slight boy up and carry him to the bath. He didn't only because he wasn't sure how well that would go over with the braided one. As it was, Heero had one hand on Duo's arm and Heero's other arm was around the slim boy's waist, supporting the tired youth as best he could. Duo didn't seem to mind, as it was blaringly obvious to both of them that he needed the support lest he fall. Heero kept sneaking sideways glances at the beautiful boy. He found Duo incredibly intriguing, especially after hearing about everything that had happened to him on his way here. It was almost humbling, to think that Duo could handle so much and still seem so cheerful and unaffected.  
  
Duo stumbled again; you could see the strain on his face. It was obvious that he didn't have the strength to climb the stairs, but he kept trying anyway. He didn't want to admit that he had nothing left. He knew that Heero knew how hard he was struggling, but instead of that annoying him, it was almost comforting having Heero help him. With Heero's help it didn't take them too long to reach the bathing room. Once they got inside it was obvious that the servants had already been there. The tub was full of steaming water and there were fresh clothes for Duo. Heero turned to leave when he was stopped by a rather sheepish Duo.  
  
"Umm, Heero I know this sounds strange, but could you possibly help me get this shirt off?" Duo murmured, an embarrassed blush staining his cheeks. Heero chuckled inwardly at Duo's embarrassment; he nodded and helped Duo over to the edge of the tub where he sat him down. Heero unclasped Duo's cloak and let the heavy material slide to the floor. Duo sat and let him, turning a rather interesting shade of red. Heero then helped the braided youth get his shirt off.  
  
Instead of leaving like he should have, Heero stood Duo back up and spun him around by his shoulders to look at his back. Heero let his breath out in a hiss. Duo's back was a mass of scabbed over cuts that obviously came from a whip. It was also obvious that Treize had gone a little overboard as all the skin on Duo's back that wasn't cut was bruised. It looked incredibly painful. Heero marveled at the fact that Duo had been able to move around at all with his back in that condition.  
  
"Umm, Heero," Duo said shakily, "could you loosen your grip a little?" Heero looked down at his hands and noticed that he was squeezing Duo's shoulders hard enough to bruise. He immediately loosened his grip, but didn't let go for fear that Duo would collapse. "Heero, is it--is it bad?" Duo whispered, his voice trembling slightly.  
  
"It's a miracle that you can even move," Heero replied. Duo winced.  
  
"That bad, huh," he replied with a tiny laugh.  
  
"It's going to hurt like hell when you get it wet," Heero warned. "I'm not sure if you'll be able to handle soaking it by yourself."  
  
"Oh man, this sucks," Duo mumbled, he was tired, he was sore, and he had really hoped to have a nice long soak in the tub, but it obviously wasn't going to work out like he had planned.  
  
"These cuts need washed, though," Heero said thoughtfully. "And you look like you could benefit from a good bath. Would you like me to help you?"  
  
Duo almost fell over in shock; the only reason he didn't was because of the grip Heero still had on his shoulders. He hadn't expected something like that at all, and yet he wanted to accept Heero's offer. And not just because he wanted a bath. Duo blushed, maybe this wasn't such a good idea...but, then again, it was Heero's idea, so... "Why not, I could use a bath and if you want to help, who am I to stop you?" Duo joked. Heero snorted and helped the braided beauty remove his pants. They left his underwear on from modesty's sake. Heero also removed his own shirt in order to keep it dry.  
  
Heero lifted Duo up and slowly began to lower him into the water. Duo was fine until the hot water began to lap against his lower back. The instant the water touched the first cut all of Duo's breath came out in a hiss of pain. Heero immediately stopped lowering him. "Are you alright, Duo?" Heero asked worriedly.  
  
"I'm fine Hee-chan, it just stings a little," Duo said tensely.  
  
"Hee-chan?" Heero raised an eyebrow. Duo grinned.  
  
"Sure, why not? It's a cute nickname for you," Duo snickered.  
  
"Cute?" Heero replied, as if it had never crossed his mind that someone could refer to him and cute in the same sentence. Duo snickered some more, but was prevented from replying when some water splashed on his back. After that, they dropped the conversation, although Heero was still planning on figuring out the whole cute thing. It took several minutes for Heero to immerse Duo's back completely in the water; every time a new part got wet it caused the violet-eyed beauty intense pain. After Duo had gotten used to the water Heero helped him clean out his wounds, and to wash his braid-- because Duo insisted that as long as he was in the water already they might as well get that over with, too.  
  
After Duo's bath was done, Heero gently hauled Duo out of the water and set him on the edge of the tub. Then Heero Yuy, the trained solider, picked up a big fluffy towel and began to gently dry Duo's hair and back. Heero didn't know where these maternal instincts had come from, but they were too strong to ignore, therefore he was forced to give in to them. Once Duo was as dry as he was going to get, Heero turned away so that Duo could change into the fresh, dry underwear and pants Quatre had had the servants bring. Heero then helped him into the fresh shirt and helped Duo braid his thigh- length hair.  
  
Duo's eyes were half-lidded and he couldn't stop yawning; he was totally exhausted and he was going to fall asleep anytime now. Luckily Heero noticed. "I could find you a room on this floor," Heero told him. Duo looked at him cautiously, as if estimating Heero's response to whatever he was about to say.  
  
"Actually, I was sort of wondering if I could stay somewhere besides in here, I have a problem sleeping behind stone walls," Duo replied quietly, as if in fear of some kind of rejection. Duo's caution confused Heero, but he let it slide for now.  
  
"You could stay down in my cottage if you like, I have a spare bedroom," Heero replied. Duo ginned widely.  
  
"That would be great," Duo answered. Heero helped Duo to his feet once more and they started to walk out of the room, with Heero supporting Duo once again. They hadn't even made it to the top of the stairs before Duo stumbled. Heero frowned, it wasn't a good idea for the exhausted boy to be walking all over the place, so Heero gave into his earlier urge and gently lifted Duo into his arms.  
  
"Wha--?" Duo began, but before he could finish his question Heero interrupted him.  
  
"It will be much easier if I just carry you down there," Heero informed him. Under normal circumstances Duo would have protested, but he was way too tired to do anything, much less argue with the solemn boy who was carrying him. So Duo just nodded. Heero began to carry the extremely light boy down towards his cottage. It didn't take very long for the braided beauty to fall asleep in his arms. Heero looked down when he felt Duo's head resting against his chest. Heero snorted--softly, to avoid disturbing the slumbering boy--and resumed his walk.  
  
When the young general reached his home, he hesitated. Should he put Duo back in the guestroom, or should he put he put the braided boy in his room instead? Heero's bed would be much more comfortable for Duo's back, but it was Heero's room and...There was absolutely no good reason for him not to put Duo in his room. Heero swiftly crossed to his room and pulled the covers off his bed, being careful not to shift his precious burden too much. Heero gently lowered the braided one onto the bed and pulled the covers over him. Heero snorted, the boy was tiny and the bed completely dwarfed him, they definitely needed to get more food into Duo. Heero snorted again, judging by the way that Duo had eaten at dinner that wouldn't be a problem. Heero shook his head and left the room, he needed to get some sleep as well.  
  
********  
  
Duo awoke with a start. 'Where am I?' he thought frantically, 'Why am I not chained up?! What happened?!' Slowly the events of the previous day came back to him. Duo sighed in relief, he was at cousin Quatre's; he was safe. The braided one took a look around the room he was in. While it was obvious that he wasn't in the room he had first woken up in, it was also easy to see that he wasn't in the castle, either. 'Must be another room in Heero's house.' Duo was startled out of his thoughts by someone knocking on the door. "Umm, come in," Duo said tentatively.  
  
Heero opened the door and walked in. He was carrying a tray of food. "I thought that you might be hungry when you woke up," Heero said.  
  
"Thanks Heero, that looks really good," Duo grinned at his new friend. Heero laid the tray across Duo's lap and sat in a chair next to the bed. Duo immediately dug into the food.  
  
"Quatre is coming down to see you in an hour, he has a few things to ask you," Heero informed Duo.  
  
"Questions, everyone always has to ask questions," the violet-eyed boy mumbled in between mouthfuls.  
  
"Here, I brought you these," Heero said, laying a bejeweled box and two necklaces on the bed next to Duo. "You were so tired last night that you must have forgotten them."  
  
Duo immediately grabbed the precious objects. "Thank you Heero! I can't believe I forgot them! Thank you so much for getting them for me!" Duo exclaimed. The braided one then lunged out of the bed and caught the surprised Heero in a bear hug. Then Heero Yuy, the world's youngest general, the boy rumored to not have emotions, blushed faintly--but it was still a blush. Luckily for him, Duo didn't notice.  
  
"Hn. Finish your breakfast baka, Quatre will be coming soon," Heero replied as he carefully pried Duo off of him.  
  
"Spoilsport," Duo said, sticking his tongue out at Heero. The braided one then settled back down to finish his breakfast.  
  
It didn't take long for Duo to finish inhaling his meal. Once he was done he crawled out of the bed and said to Heero, "So, what now?"  
  
"You need to change before Quatre gets here and I need to take a look at your back," Heero answered.  
  
"You don't really need to look at it, it feels much better now," Duo said as convincingly as possible.  
  
"Your wounds need taken care of whether you want care or not," Heero insisted. 'Why wouldn't he want his back taken care of, it must be painful...so why is he trying to get out of it?'  
  
"Fine, fine, whatever you say Hee-chan," Duo replied sweetly. 'Man, if it was Quatre I could have gotten out of it, but no it's Heero so I get to have my back prodded and poked and cleaned and bandaged. I could handle it on my own.'  
  
"Don't call me that," Heero scowled.  
  
"Why not?" Duo asked innocently. "I think it's cute, it suits you," Duo grinned. Heero snorted, this was getting ridiculous.  
  
"Just get up and change so that I'll have time to check your back before Quatre gets here," Heero commanded.  
  
"Of course master, your every wish is my command," Duo mocked.  
  
"Just do it," Heero growled. Then he turned and stalked out of the room.  
  
"Sheesh, someone obviously got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," Duo smirked to himself. As much as he liked Heero, it was just too much fun to annoy him.  
  
To be continued…. 


	2. Chapters 3 and 4

Duo and the Desert by Travaria  
  
Part 3  
  
"He is such an idiot," Heero muttered to himself. 'Not that I actually mind, of course,' Heero thought. 'Although it would be better if he would take me more seriously.' Heero snorted, as if that would ever happen.  
  
'Wait a minute, I've known him for not even twenty-four hours and I've already made huge assumptions about his character. True, they seem to be obvious assumptions, actually they're a little too obvious. Perhaps he only wants me to think that he always is like this when he's really not. He might even be using this attitude of his to hide what he really is thinking and feeling about the situations he is in. Or maybe he really is like that all the time. I probably just need to get to know him better to figure this out.' (Obviously Heero thinks a lot more than he talks.) With that thought, Heero nodded and stalked off to the palace to see Quatre. He wanted to talk to him a bit before they checked in on Duo.  
  
********  
  
Duo yawned and stretched. It was time for another day, but today would be different, no more pain, no more fear, decent food, clean clothes, and friends. Yes, they were friends. Even if Duo had only just met Heero, Trowa, and even Wufei, he already liked them and sensed that he would get along well with them.  
  
That, of course, did not mean that he wanted to sit there and get poked at by Heero and interrogated Quatre. 'Now what can I do about that?' Duo pondered. The loud whinny of a horse outside interrupted his thoughts. "Of course!" Duo exclaimed, "They all think that Shini is a problem child, so if I was to leave because she 'needed to be restrained' then they couldn't very well get upset with me now could they!" Duo grinned; it was a very scary sight.  
  
His excuse firmly in place, Duo quickly changed into the fresh clothes left for him. He then decided that the best exit would be through the window, just in case Heero was still in the house, he didn't want to take a chance at getting caught. So out the window and down to the stables he went. He knew that Heero would have his hide for this, but hey, you only die once and it might as well be at the hand of a hottie. Duo snickered.  
  
********  
  
"Heero?" Quatre said as he caught sight of his general. "What are you doing here? I was just coming down. Is Duo alright?"  
  
"Depends," Heero replied  
  
"What do you mean depends?" Quatre questioned, slightly annoyed.  
  
"He's awake, he's eaten, and he's doing everything in his power to avoid being taken care of or talking to you," Heero answered.  
  
Quatre shook his head. "He must be back to normal then, he acted the same way when we were children," the blonde boy sighed.  
  
"Why?" Heero asked. Quatre was astounded by the curiosity that he heard in his normally stoic general's voice.  
  
"I'm not really sure, but it probably has to do with his life before Helen adopted him. From the little I could con him into telling me, it sounded as if he had a terrible childhood," Quatre replied thoughtfully.  
  
"Has he always been so..." Heero stopped he couldn't think of the correct word for Duo's mood.  
  
"Forcefully cheerful?" Quatre responded; at Heero's curt nod he continued. "He has for as long as I've known him. I think it's some sort of emotional defense system, or there's always the possibility that it's just the way he is, it's hard to tell."  
  
"You don't understand him either?" Heero's brow furrowed slightly. Quatre laughed.  
  
"The only one who really understands Duo is Duo, and maybe Shinigami, but she won't be telling us anything now will she?" Quatre replied. "Come on, let's go see if Duo is still there."  
  
"What do you mean still there?" Heero questioned.  
  
"Duo tends to disappear at the most inopportune times," Quatre informed Heero. "It's a trait he perfected while he was living as a thief. In fact his motto used to be 'If you're not there it couldn't be your fault'. So it's incredibly likely that he's already going to be gone by the time we get back." After having said his piece Quatre and Heero rushed down towards the cottage.  
  
********  
  
"Oh look, it's Wufei," Duo mumbled to himself. Apparently the horse he had heard whinny was Wufei's. "Oh well, might as well have a nice little chat with him," Duo smirked. "Hey Wu-man!" Duo called to the uptight Asian.  
  
"What are you doing out here, Maxwell? And my name is Wufei, not Wu-man!" Wufei yelled back irritably.  
  
"So, is this your horse?" Duo asked as he sauntered up to the edge of the corral that Wufei and the beautiful bay mare were in.  
  
"This is no ordinary horse Maxwell! Nataku is the finest bred mare in my entire country, unlike that spoiled brat Shinigami," Wufei sneered in reply. Duo's eyes lit with mischief and a little anger, but hey it was all part of the game.  
  
"Spoiled, I highly doubt that. At least I've never spoiled her. Q, on the other hand, probably has. Shall we see if Shini still remembers her training?" Duo questioned with a grin. Wufei snorted.  
  
"As if that mare could be trained, much less by someone like you, Maxwell," Wufei retorted.  
  
"Well, why don't we just see?" Duo replied, letting out a high pitched whistle. Duo was rewarded with an answering neigh and a black blur sprinting over towards them.  
  
"What have I gotten us into, Nataku?" Wufei moaned to his mare.  
  
"A lot more trouble then teasing me is worth," Duo chuckled. Wufei groaned into Nataku's mane. Just then Shinigami raced up to then and effortlessly leaped over the six-foot fence of the corral. She then gleeful trotted over to Duo and nuzzled him. Duo in turn caressed his beloved mare, trying to make up for all the time they were apart from each other. "Hey babe," Duo cooed. "How have you been, baby, has cousin Quatre been taking good care of you? I bet he has, you're getting fat!" Shinigami shoved him with her nose for that one, but Duo just chuckled and returned to petting her. "What do you think about us messing around with Wu-man and Nataku?" the mischievous boy whispered into the nimble mare's ear. Shinigami's response, while obviously non-verbal, was definitely an affirmative.  
  
"If you would quit fawning over that overgrown filly, we could get on with the challenge that you initiated," Wufei snapped, he was not a patient person by any means. Duo stuck his tongue out at him. Wufei just let out a long-suffering sigh.  
  
"So, just what did you have in mind for us to do, Wu-man?" Duo finally asked.  
  
"Do not call me that Maxwell! My name if Wufei!"  
  
"Yeah well my name is Duo, and you can't seem to call me that anymore than I seem to be able to call you Wufei," Duo said sweetly.  
  
"Acknowledged, Max...umm Duo," Wufei replied. 'Yes, he does have a point, before you should expect respect you should give it,' Wufei thought.  
  
"Glad we cleared that up, Wufei," Duo said with a friendly grin. "Now what was it that we were going to do?"  
  
'I want to test Shinigami and his abilities, but he's injured and tired. He hides it well; I would have never seen it if I hadn't specifically been looking for it. It appears that he is very good at hiding his true self, but that still doesn't change the fact that if him or that mare get injured Heero will kill me, slowly and painfully,' Wufei mused.  
  
"Yo, Wufei are you in there, hello Wufei?" Duo called trying to get his companion's attention.  
  
"What is it Duo?" the Asian replied distractedly.  
  
"Have you thought up something or not?" Duo asked.  
  
"Hmm, a simple obedience exercise should suffice," Wufei answered. "But not in here, it would be much too easy; perhaps it should take place in the market," Wufei added, confident that it would be simple for Shini to be her normal rambunctious self if she was in the confusion filled lanes of the market.  
  
"Sounds good to me Wufei," Duo grinned, this was going to be easier than he thought, poor Wufei didn't realize that Duo had spent most of Shini's training time getting her to obey him no matter what the circumstances. Which meant that he took her down to the market to train her. That training was what made her so helpful in a getaway or a fight.  
  
"Race you to the market!" Duo exclaimed as he vaulted on to Shini. It didn't bother him that he was riding bareback, or that the closest thing to tack that she had on was a halter, he didn't need all that stuff to control her. Duo urged the dark mare into a gallop and they leapt back over the fence. Wufei recovered soon after that and mounted his own horse (who was in full tack) and rode after the crazy boy and his crazy horse.  
  
********  
  
Heero glared angrily at the empty room, as if glaring could make the braided boy reappear in the big bed where he was supposed to be lying. "You see what I mean, Duo always does this," Quatre said to the angry boy. "He's always sneaking around and disappearing. You'd think he'd grow out of it, but no! Duo has to be permanently five," Quatre ranted.  
  
"He went out the window," Heero replied. "He crawled out a window, why would he do that?"  
  
"I don't know, because he's Duo?" Quatre shrugged. "He probably thought it would be safer to sneak out, in case you were still here."  
  
"Where would he go?" Heero asked suddenly.  
  
"Huh?" Quatre replied intelligently.  
  
"Once he escaped, where would he go?" Heero repeated. It was then that they too heard a horse whinny. They looked at each other, and then out the window.  
  
"The stables!" they exclaimed in unison before rushing out the door in search of their wayward friend.  
  
********  
  
"Ha, beat you Wufei!" Duo called over his shoulder as he slowed Shinigami to a walk. His companion just scowled and caught up with him.  
  
"Duo! You shouldn't race through the streets like that, you could hurt someone!" Wufei lectured.  
  
"Oh and you can't? 'Cause you seemed to be racing through the streets just as fast as I was," Duo smirked.  
  
"That's beside the point, Maxwell! I was following you!" Wufei replied angrily.  
  
"Two wrongs don't make a right Wu-man," Duo taunted.  
  
Before Wufei could reply, one of the Maguanac guards rode up to them. "Master Wufei, there is a man at the gate asking for Lord Quatre. He's acting suspicious though, perhaps you should check it out."  
  
"Thank you Ahameed, I believe I should do that," Wufei replied.  
  
"Do you know where Lord Quatre and Master Heero are?" Ahameed asked.  
  
"They should be about to the stables by now Ahameed," Duo replied.  
  
"Thank you, umm," Ahameed replied.  
  
"Oh, don't tell me you don't remember me, I am so hurt," Duo swooned melodramatically.  
  
"Master Duo!" Ahameed yelled, the big man then grabbed Duo, pulled him off Shinigami and into a bear hug.  
  
"Nice to see you too, Ahameed," The braided boy gasped as all the air was forced out of his lungs do to the powerful man's hug.  
  
"Now why wasn't I informed that you were going to be visiting?" Ahameed demanded as he sat Duo back on his horse and tousled his bangs.  
  
"Well, my visit wasn't exactly planned," Duo muttered.  
  
"I must go find Lord Quatre now, but I will see you later?" Ahameed added.  
  
"Sure, I'll see you around. Bye Ahameed," Duo waved as the burly guard rode back towards the stable.  
  
"What makes you think they'll be at the stables?" Wufei questioned.  
  
"That's where they'll think that I went, therefore that's where they'll go," Duo answered with a mischievous smile.  
  
"Oh goddess what have I gotten myself involved in?" Wufei groaned.  
  
"Don't worry, Q won't mind at all. Of course Heero might just slowly dissect us piece by piece, but hey that's not really a problem now is it?" Duo shrugged. "Come on let's go see who's at the gate!"  
  
"Oh kami-sama save me," Wufei muttered before racing after the violet-eyed boy who was intent on seeing who had just arrived.  
  
  
  
  
  
Duo and the Desert by Travaria  
  
Part 4  
  
"He's not here," Heero said acidly; he was really starting to get annoyed with this.  
  
"Well, neither is Shinigami," Quatre replied helpfully.  
  
"And that is useful how?" Heero sneered. Quatre shrugged half-heartedly and blew his bangs out of his face.  
  
"Lord Quatre! Master Heero! Thank Allah that you were here, I would have had quite a search ahead of me," Ahameed called as he entered the stable.  
  
"Why did you look for us here?" Heero asked suspiciously.  
  
"Well, Master Duo told me..."  
  
"You know where Duo is!" Quatre and Heero exclaimed in unison.  
  
"Of course, I just saw him and Master Wufei," the confused guard replied.  
  
"Where?" Heero asked tersely, his eye narrowed in annoyance.  
  
"They were on their way to the gate," Ahameed answered cautiously.  
  
"Why would they be heading to the gate, Ahameed?" Quatre asked before Heero could attack his hapless servant.  
  
"That's why I was looking for you in the first place, Lord Quatre. There is a suspicious man at the gate requesting to see you. Master Trowa is already there, and Master Wufei and Master Duo are on their way," Ahameed answered, happy that he had finally gotten his message out and could leave before Heero got madder at him.  
  
"Thank you Ahameed, you may go now," Quatre said distractedly. Ahameed bowed low before scurrying off. "We'd better go check this out, plus it will be the fastest way to find Duo." Heero nodded.  
  
Just as Heero and Quatre had stepped out of the stables they were passed by two blurs. One black and one brown that appeared to be uttering Chinese curse words. "Well, there goes Wufei and Duo," Quatre stuttered as he watched them ride off with wide eyes. "I really don't think that it's safe to ride that fast through the streets," the noble muttered to himself. Heero just took off after them at a very fast walk mumbling under his breath about braided bakas.  
  
********  
  
"Beat you again, Wufei," Duo called. Duo then proceeded to stop abruptly at the foot of the stairs that lead to the guard tower.  
  
"If you didn't start before me then you wouldn't win," Wufei replied mildly amused. 'Shinigami is fast, faster than I gave her credit for, and Duo is an excellent rider. I believe we are evenly matched. But I wouldn't tell him that, his ego doesn't need any boosting.' "If we ever had a fair start Nataku would easily defeat your brat." Duo just chuckled and stuck his tongue out.  
  
"I think we passed Quatre and Heero back at the stable. Man, did Heero look pissed," Duo mused aloud.  
  
"You will explain that this is all you fault Maxwell," Wufei commanded.  
  
"Whatever you say Wu-man," Duo drawled sarcastically. "Shini, stay here while I check this visitor out 'kay?"  
  
"Duo, talking to her isn't going to do anything, she's only a horse," Wufei felt obliged to inform his braided companion.  
  
"Sure it does. Shini is smarter than your average horse; she knows what I want her to do. Now come on, let's go see who's here," Duo grinned cheerfully before taking off up the stairs.  
  
"Baka," Wufei muttered before following his companion at a more sedate pace.  
  
********  
  
"When I catch up to that baka..." Heero muttered under his breath. The young general was starting to get very, very, very upset with a certain braided idiot. Heero knew very well that he'd never actually follow through on any threat he thought up, but plotting Duo's untimely demise was a great stress reliever.  
  
"Heero, wait up. Don't walk so fast!" Quatre called. He was having a hard time keeping up with Heero's longer, faster strides. He couldn't very well jog up to Heero or anything; he had to maintain his dignity. Unfortunately, Heero didn't appear to hear him because the intense young man even began to walk faster. Quatre sighed, 'That's it, I'm not even going to try anymore. I'm not going to catch up with him so I might as well walk at a slower pace.' Quatre fumed internally, he was going to be the last there again, all because he had to keep up some semblance of nobility.  
  
Heero was completely oblivious to the fact that Quatre was falling farther and farther behind him. The dark-haired young man was completely focused on finding Duo and making the violet-eyed boy sorry he had dared to leave when Heero had told him in no uncertain terms to stay. To add insult to injury, Heero was certain that when Duo and Wufei had rode past him that Duo had stuck his tongue out at him.  
  
********  
  
"Hey Trowa!" Duo greeted his cousin's lover loudly as he entered the guardhouse. The green-eyed man nodded a greeting at the hyper young man. "So is the guy still out there waiting?"  
  
"He really doesn't have any other choice but to," Trowa replied.  
  
"Sucks to be him."  
  
"Maxwell! You need to learn to control your excessive energy in some way other than rushing all over the place!" Wufei yelled as he entered the guardhouse.  
  
"Oh Wu-man, did I run off and leave you all by yourself? I'm so sorry!" Duo mocked. Trowa couldn't suppress a smile at the antics of the two of them.  
  
"Why you little..." Wufei growled, but Duo wasn't listening any more. The braided bundle of energy had left the guardhouse to see who was at the gate by looking over the wall (the window went completely unnoticed). "Argh! He is so aggravating!" Wufei ranted.  
  
"It's nice to have a little excitement in our lives, don't you think?" Trowa asked. Wufei smirked.  
  
"It is refreshing, but don't let him know that I'm enjoying his little games. While they are amusing now, if they went on everyday I'd have to kill him," Wufei chuckled.  
  
Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of someone running past the guardhouse and down the stairs. They rushed out of the guardhouse just in time to see a panicked looking Duo skip the last few stairs and take off towards the palace at a fast sprint, he was so preoccupied with what ever had startled him that he didn't even stop to get on Shinigami.  
  
********  
  
Heero continued to walk towards the guardhouse, Quatre wasn't even in sight anymore. Not that Heero noticed that his companion had disappeared, he was to busy mentally cursing Duo. His murderous thoughts were interrupted when he spotted the object of those thoughts sprinting towards him. 'What is he doing?' Heero wondered. Duo was getting closer to Heero, but he hadn't seen the General yet as he was either watching his feet or looking over his shoulder. Heero caught a glimpse of the braided one's face and was surprised to see sheer terror and panic written all over Duo's delicate features. Heero moved to intercept the boy intent at finding out what was wrong, all of his anger had been replaced with a deep concern.  
  
As Duo was running past him, still oblivious to Heero's presence, he reached out and grabbed Duo's arm, forcing the sprinting young man to a stop. Duo whirled around ready to attack whoever had grabbed him until he saw that it was Heero.  
  
"Duo what's wrong?" Heero demanded. Duo shook his head almost frantically as he panted (he wasn't anywhere near recovered and the sprinting definitely wasn't helping).  
  
"You've gotta--gasp--you haveta--gasp--get me--pantpant--to-to the--" Duo gasped as he struggled to slow down his rapid breathing.  
  
"Duo calm down, you aren't making any sense! What's wrong?" Heero grabbed the terrified boy's shoulders.  
  
"At the--pant--at the gate--gasp--Sh-Shalen--at the gate--Shalen," Duo panted as he began to tremble from exhaustion and fear.  
  
"Shalen? Treize's Shalen?" Heero exclaimed. Duo nodded. "We need to talk to Quatre, we need to hide you! Quatre needs to just send him away!"  
  
"Q-man can't do that, too suspicious," Duo murmured tiredly; now that Heero was here to protect him, the adrenaline was wearing off and the exhaustion was taking over. Duo leaned into Heero's grip on his shoulders and Heero instinctively pulled him closer.  
  
"You're right," Heero replied. 'What was I thinking? I know better than that. It's just that when I saw him filled with such terror, I just lost it. But...why?' Heero wondered. "We still need to talk to him and the others, and you need to rest!" Duo nodded slightly, he could barely stand up--when the terror had left it had taken the last of his energy with it. "Do you need me to carry you?"  
  
"I'll just call Shini," Duo said, his ever-present grin returning right before he let out a shrill whistle right in Heero's ear.  
  
********  
  
"What just happened?" Trowa asked after a few minutes; he was in a mild state of shock  
  
"Maxwell just ran off in terror, and I'm not sure why," Wufei mumbled in reply.  
  
"Should we go after him?" Trowa asked. Wufei hesitated.  
  
"I--I think so." Wufei managed to get himself moving and began to walk down the stairs; Trowa followed his lead. Before they had gotten more than halfway down, they heard a faint whistle and Shinigami--who had been fidgeting but had obeyed her order to stay--took off. Wufei and Trowa blinked and shrugged before heading back up to the guardhouse; Duo had obviously come to his senses.  
  
********  
  
"Was that really necessary?" Heero glared, but they both knew there was no force behind it. Duo laughed quietly.  
  
"Of course, there's no other way to call Shini, and I'm far too tired to move," Duo said jokingly, but his voice was weak, betraying the truth of his statement.  
  
"Baka," Heero muttered softly into Duo's hair.  
  
"But that's the way you like me," the violet-eyed boy mumbled into Heero's shoulder where his head was resting. Heero snorted.  
  
Shinigami galloped up, even her pace seemed frantic. As soon as she spotted them she rushed over, crowding them, and began sniffing her master all over, as if searching of a wound. Duo giggle lightly as the mare passed over his ticklish ribs. Once the black horse had ascertained that Duo was unharmed, she stopped fidgeting and allowed Heero to mount her. Normally she wouldn't allow this, but she realized that her precious Duo would need help getting on and riding her.  
  
"Let's go find Quatre," Heero said to Duo, who was now resting against Heero's chest. Duo nodded and mumbled something that sounded like it might have been "hai". So the dark-haired solider spurred the magnificent mare into a canter and headed back towards Quatre.  
  
********  
  
"If I don't get in soon there will be hell to pay," Shalen muttered to himself as he glared at the fortress walls. He knew that there were people who knew he was here, there were at least two non-guards in the guardhouse, and he could have sworn that another had peeked over the wall, but he wasn't sure. Shalen cursed, what was it that they were waiting for, him to die of heat exhaustion?! Sweat rolled down his forehead and into his eyes, causing them to sting and him to swear angrily. 'That little slave brat better be here! If he isn't then he will pay for this when I find him! Lord Treize had better appreciate all the trouble I've been having, or that pretty little slave will really pay!' Shalen fumed internally. All the troubles he was experiencing were the fault of the slave brat that he was searching for, none of it was Lord Treize's, it couldn't be. Lord Treize was wonderful, kind, giving, generous, and all things good. The burly guard practically shivered when he thought of how happy Treize would be if he brought back the slave; it was a delicious prospect.  
  
********  
  
"Quatre!" Heero called as he pulled Shinigami up next to the Arabian youth.  
  
"Heero? Duo?! What happened?! What's going on?!" Quatre demanded as he studied the curious sight of his general cradling his cousin and riding the "untrainable" black mare.  
  
"We have a problem," Heero stated seriously. "One of Treize's guards--the one called Shalen--is at the gate asking for you." Quatre's eyes widened with surprise and shock. Heero continued talking before he could reply. "You have to let him in though, it would be too suspicious if you don't. But we cannot let him see Duo!"  
  
"Oh Allah! What are we going to do?!" Quatre exclaimed. This was bad, very bad. "Umm, Heero you take Duo to, umm, to, oh I know, hide him in your cottage and then meet me and the others at the gate, and we'll talk to Shalen and invite him to brunch and tell him we haven't seen anything and send him off. If Duo stays inside your cottage, that Shalen guy will have no chance to see him and everything will be alright," Quatre said, planning as he went along. Heero nodded hesitantly although he didn't want to leave Duo, the logic was sound. Duo also nodded slowly, he didn't want to leave Heero either, but if it was necessary he would do it.  
  
"I'll meet you in a minute," Heero informed Quatre before urging Shinigami back into a gallop and headed for his cottage. Once there, he slid off Shini, still holding onto Duo. The stoic solider carried the braided one into his small house and laid him on the bed in his room. "Duo, you need..."  
  
"I know, I know, I need to stay right here. Don't worry Heero, I know when to be serious," Duo interrupted, looking at Heero with very serious eyes.  
  
"Will you be alright staying here by yourself?" Heero asked.  
  
"I'll be fine Hee-chan. Now go and pretend that you don't know the gorilla guard, go on, shoo," Duo said light heartedly, even though inside he was crying out for Heero to pick him back up and protect him from all the scary things in the world. "Shini should let you ride her, if you need to hurry." Heero nodded and left the room, even though every instinct he had was screaming for him to turn back and pick Duo up in his arms and protect him from the world that had hurt him. 


	3. Chapters 5 and 6

Duo and the Desert by Travaria  
  
Part 5  
  
Quatre was jogging now, this was far too important to worry about dignity. Although he really felt like just taking off, he knew that running would be counter-productive, he would get tired before he got there and would have to walk at some point, plus it wouldn't do to show up at the gate all hot and sweaty. As he jogged along he began planning what he would say to Shalen. His musings were interrupted by the sound of galloping hooves. The blonde noble looked back over his shoulder and saw a black blur, which he assumed was Heero and Shini. Before he could wonder about the fact that Shinigami was letting Heero ride her, Heero had pulled the horse up next to him, reached down and pulled him onto the back of the sprinting animal. Quatre clung desperately to his General, 'There is no way that that was safe,' Quatre thought, his mental voice filled with fear.  
  
"Heero?" Quatre was forced to yell due to the sound of the wind and the pounding hooves.  
  
"We'll get this over with faster this way," Heero called back. Quatre could tell that Heero was not at all pleased by the way that things were going today. Quatre could feel how tense Heero's body was and he could hear the anger and impatience in Heero's voice. This was not good, if Heero didn't control himself around Shalen their whole plan would be blown; but luckily Heero's reputation for being cold, cruel, and rude would most likely prevent any suspicion.  
  
They reached the gate in next to no time because of the furious pace that Shinigami had set and Heero had encouraged. Heero was off the horse and on the stairs almost before Shinigami had completely stopped and Quatre was not far behind. They both raced up the stairs as quickly as they could. Heero flung open the door to the guardhouse, startling both Trowa and Wufei.  
  
"What's going on?!" Wufei demanded loudly.  
  
"We have a big problem!" Quatre replied, breathless from his mad dash up the stairs. Trowa crossed over to his little love and put an arm around his shoulders.  
  
"What is wrong, beloved?" Trowa asked calmly.  
  
"Shalen." Heero answered from over by the window, he was looking at the man waiting to be let into their settlement, the man who had hurt and scared *his* Duo. Heero's cobalt eyes were filled with an icy hatred.  
  
"You mean Treize's guard Shalen?!" Wufei exclaimed, considerably startled. Heero's answer was an abrupt nod.  
  
"What are we going to do?! We can't let him in here!"  
  
"We have to let him in. Everyone has heard of my unrivaled hospitality, if I were to just deny him entrance then it would be far too suspicious. Our plan is to just rush him through, Duo will remain in Heero's cottage while Shalen is here so that Shalen won't see him," Quatre explained.  
  
"Can't we just tell him there's a plague running rampant through the streets?" Wufei questioned.  
  
"The guard would have told him if there was a plague, he would know that," Heero replied, his argument so flawless that it was obvious that he had already thought of all the "can't we just"s and had disproved all of them. Wufei's shoulders slumped slightly in defeat.  
  
"Let's go let it in then," Wufei murmured unhappily. So the four friends filed out of the guardhouse and down to the gate, struggling to pretend that they had never heard anything of Shalen and that they didn't hate him already.  
  
********  
  
Duo huddled in a mass of blankets as if he was cold, but the chill he felt was one of fear, not temperature, and blankets were a frail shield against it. Duo wished that Heero was here, or Shini, or Quatre, or Wufei, or Trowa, or anyone as long as he wasn't alone anymore. Duo hated that he was scared, but he hated that he was alone in his fear even more. If he had to go back, he didn't know what he'd do. But Heero wouldn't let that happen, Heero would make sure he was safe. Duo snuggled deeper into the blankets, reminding himself over and over again that Heero would keep him safe.  
  
********  
  
"I apologize for the long wait you've had, there was a pressing matter that I had to attend to," Quatre apologized to the impatient figure that stood on his fortress's threshold. "Why don't you come in and we can discuss what it is that you want over some cool drinks," Quatre suggested, having a hard time keeping the pleasant smile on his face. His lucky companions were known for not being the cheeriest of people, so they didn't have to worry about trying to keep unhappy looks off their faces.  
  
"Fine," Shalen grunted, Heero had a hard time keeping himself from glaring or sneering at the burly man.  
  
"Oh, I must apologize for my rudeness, I am Quatre Winner, this is my chief advisor Trowa Barton, my General Heero Yuy, and my good friend Chang Wufei," Quatre said politely. "And you are?"  
  
"Shalen, the captain of Lord Kushrenada's guards," Shalen stated proudly-- Heero wanted to deck him.  
  
"Well, welcome to my settlement," Quatre greeted, still playing the gracious host. "Come, let us go to my palace to discuss your business." With that Quatre led his three companions and the guard through the marketplace and to the palace. It was a long walk, but they had no other way to get there, as they hadn't brought any horses--other than Shinigami who had split as soon as she heard Shalen's voice.  
  
Heero trailed behind the group slightly, an unusual occurrence for him. He did it to avoid 'it' so that he wouldn't blow their cover and so that he could keep a very close eye on 'it'. There was no way he was going to let the overgrown, unintelligent gorilla do anything else to upset *his* Duo. Heero's thoughts halted immediately, finally realizing how he had mentally been referring to Duo. 'My Duo? Where did that come from? No one should own someone, and no one could own Duo, so what did I mean by that?' Heero pondered, he had no idea what he was feeling for the braided boy, but he knew it was important.  
  
By the time they had reached the palace it was almost noon. Their earlier actions and the long walk had taken a lot longer then it had seemed to take. So when they got inside they were presented with lunch instead of a simple snack like they had planned. It was considered rude to talk about business over a meal so they all had to suffer through an uncomfortable, silent lunch. Heero, Trowa, and Wufei rarely talked, and Quatre wasn't up to putting forth the effort it would require to get them to respond to a conversation. Shalen seemed to be too dense to notice or care about the somewhat hostile silence that hung over the meal, he was also busy stuffing vast amounts of food into the black hole that some people called a mouth; he ate more than Duo!  
  
The meal finished quicker than it normally would have due to the lack of conversation. Once it was over, Quatre had everyone go to the parlor. The servants provided all of them with cool drinks and they finally got down to business.  
  
"So, Shalen, was it?" Quatre began, at the large man's nodded he continued. "Why exactly did Treize send you here?"  
  
"One of Lord Khushrenada's slaves broke out of our camp," Shalen replied. The tone of his voice showed how little he thought of the slave, it made Heero feel like taking out his sword and slowly chopping the guard into pieces--starting from the bottom so that he'd be alive for most of the painful process. "We believe that he ran in this direction, and since your place is the only inhabited area out here and we haven't found a corpse yet, we thought we should check here."  
  
"I don't believe that we have spotted anyone around here. Visitors are so few that I am always told if someone arrives, even if they are a slave. So I'm afraid that he couldn't be here. You must give my apologies to Lord Khushrenada," Quatre replied in a convincing tone of regret. "If you don't mind me asking, why is this slave so important? It seem to me that slaves must escape often enough, so why is Treize so bent on finding this one?"  
  
"This slave is different. He is a thief and has made a mockery of all of us ever since he arrived. Treize wants to retrieve him and show the other slaves an example of what happens to those who scorn their masters," Shalen replied with an unholy gleam in his eyes.  
  
"He isn't here," Heero said with a quiet intensity, he wanted nothing more than to kill this man with his bare hands, but there was no way he was going to show it.  
  
"This slave is like a demon! He disappears into the shadows as if he were one himself and he fights with the strength of a devil, too! I was ordered by Lord Khushrenada to search all buildings in the fortress in case he snuck in."  
  
"Our fortress is impenetrable," Heero growled, showing his anger for the first time but still hiding it by directing it at something else.  
  
"That boy is inhuman; he can sneak into anything, untie any knot and escape from the strongest of manacles. Your fortress must be searched from top to bottom," Shalen replied.  
  
"That would take you forever," Quatre exclaimed. "I will have my Maguanac Guard assist you."  
  
"I would prefer to do it myself, but I see the truth in your words. Let us commence the search. Will you be joining me, General Yuy, Barton, Chang?" Shalen inquired. They glanced at each other and came to a silent agreement. Trowa and Heero nodded. They would come and make sure that Shalen didn't do anything that they didn't like, Quatre had to come, it was an obligation, they all knew that. Wufei was to look after Duo.  
  
"I am not of this settlement, nor am I of this country. I would prefer not to meddle in the business of countries that I am not a part of," Wufei responded politely. "If you will excuse me." Wufei bowed in the custom of his people before leaving them to their search.  
  
Quatre called the Maguanac troops and informed them of what they were to do; he also secretly passed the information of the real plan on to the leaders of each group so that they fully knew what they were doing. After he had given areas to each of the troops, he rejoined his friends and Shalen. They were to search together. Shalen was impatient to get it over with so they quickly went to their area and began.  
  
********  
  
Duo heard the door to Heero's cottage open and he tensed immediately. Whoever had entered wasn't Heero, he wasn't sure why he thought this, but he knew it was true. The former thief tensed and prepared to take any action that was necessary if his visitor was not a good one. The door to the room began to open slowly; Duo cleared the blankets away from him so that they would not hinder flight if it was necessary. The door finished opening, revealing an unhappy and annoyed Wufei bearing a tray of food. Duo sank back onto the bed in relief.  
  
"Hey Wufei, what's up?" Duo asked curiously; Wufei was seriously ticked off and he wanted to know why.  
  
"I brought you food. You are probably hungry, and you will be unable to leave this place for quite a while," Wufei grumbled. He was not pleased, not at all. Duo's eyes widened.  
  
"Why not, I thought the plan was to just rush ugly through? Why can't I leave?" Duo demanded nervously, he didn't like this, something was wrong.  
  
"Shalen insists that the whole settlement be searched as he is convinced that you are some sort of demon capable of sneaking into anything. The Maguanacs and the others are helping him look," Wufei sneered. Duo laughed cynically.  
  
"I don't believe this. I had no idea that Treize was that mad, I mean come on, this is ridiculous!" Duo replied, his cheerful tone infused with anger. "Why can't he just leave me alone?" Duo whispered to himself, Wufei pretended he hadn't heard.  
  
"I am to keep you company as you shall be unable to leave this room for the rest of the day," Wufei said, changing the subject. Duo smiled, Wufei shifted uncomfortably.  
  
"Don't worry about it Wufei, I'll be good," Duo replied before he dug into the food.  
  
"I'll bet," Wufei muttered sarcastically.  
  
********  
  
"Shalen, if this boy is so impossible to see what makes you think we'll find him?" Heero couldn't help asking, even though it earned him a glare from Quatre.  
  
"If he is here I will find him," Shalen replied.  
  
"You can try," Heero muttered, so quietly that only Trowa who was right next to him heard. The taller youth smirked slightly and nodded in agreement. Quatre sighed at the glares and smirks the other two kept giving Shalen whenever he turned his back, this was going to be a very, very long day.  
  
********  
  
Wufei smiled to himself behind his cards. Duo was actually being very good about the whole confinement thing. When the braided baka had suggested that they play a card game, Wufei had almost refused, thinking he meant 52-card pick up, or--even worse--strip poker. But Duo had let him pick the game, so first they played War, then Egyptian War, then War, then Speed, then War, then--well, you get the pattern. Duo was a surprisingly good and focused player, although every now and then his head would shoot up and he would look out the window. When Wufei asked him what was the matter, Duo just mumbled that he had heard something. Wufei wasn't sure if the sounds Duo heard were real or imagined, as Maxwell seemed to have extremely acute hearing. Wufei could tell that even though Duo was acting happy and calm that he really wasn't. All of the violet-eyed boy's muscles were tense and every now and then his control would slip and his hands would shake slightly. Wufei pretended that he didn't notice how nervous his friend was, just as he knew that Duo must have been pretending not to notice how nervous he himself was.  
  
After a while they both got sick of cards (surprise, surprise) and Duo swore that if he never played War or Egyptian War again it would be too soon. Wufei had to agree so they put away the cards and settled themselves on the bed; they had nothing to do. The boredom was getting to Duo so he decided to get to know Wufei better.  
  
"So Wufei, how long have you been at Quatre's anyway?" Duo asked curiously. Wufei thought a moment.  
  
"I believe that it has now been about four years," Wufei replied slowly, as if he wasn't really sure.  
  
"That's a really long time," Duo said. He paused, considering if asking his next question would upset Wufei. "Why have you stayed so long?" Duo questioned gently, something in him was afraid of the answer. Wufei took a deep breath before trying to reply, for some reason he felt that Duo would understand and that he should tell the braided one.  
  
"I have nowhere else to go," Wufei began slowly, the look on his face stopped Duo from replying, there was more to this story but Wufei needed to let it out in his own time. "I could never return to my clan after what happened," Wufei continued quietly. The stern Chinese man closed his eyes and saw visions of barbarian soldiers and fire and blood and heard the echoes of cries and screams in his ears.  
  
"What happened?" Duo asked softly when it looked as if Wufei needed a little help continuing. Wufei looked at Duo with slanted sloe eyes before turning his gaze away and continuing his story.  
  
"My clan lived in the high mountains in the Far West. It was a very isolated place surrounded by wilderness and not much else. Other than us, there were few people there; they were mostly barbarians. They left us alone as we were a clan of great warriors. I was the prince of my clan." Here Wufei paused.  
  
"Was?"  
  
"I am no longer worthy of that title," Wufei stated. "I was betrothed since birth to the Lady Meiran. On the night we were to be married, barbarian soldiers attacked. They swept into our village when no one expected it; there was little we could do. I was knocked out early by a blow to the head, they must have thought I was dead. When I woke up later, the barbarians were gone. The ground was littered with bodies. A few had escaped into the woods; my Lady Meiran wasn't one of them. From the looks of it she had taken a sword and fought to the death, she died with honor, while I lived through cowardice. I was afraid then; afraid they would come back, afraid of my people's reaction to the fact that their prince had not done a thing to stop the slaughter. I found Nataku; I picked up Meiran and mounted my horse. I rode to a quiet field where I buried my betrothed. Then I ran. I felt there was nothing that I could do but run--until I reached this place and was welcomed to stay," Wufei concluded. His entire tale had been delivered in a calm monotone, sometimes with the sentences spaced by deep calming breaths. During his narrative Wufei had turned towards the wall, looking anywhere but at Duo.  
  
Duo sat in silence for a little while after Wufei finished digesting the tale and wondering what to do next. Duo sensed that telling Wufei that it wasn't his fault or anything like that would do little to help him in his grief. Duo finally just laid a comforting hand on Wufei's shoulder. At the contact the Chinese youth turned to look at his braided companion. Wufei looked in Duo's eyes and he didn't see anger, loathing, fear, revulsion, or, worst of all, pity, like he feared he would find. Instead of those, when he looked into the large violet eyes he could see sympathy, understanding, and camaraderie that could only come from experiencing a similar situation.  
  
"I know how you feel Wufei, I know how you feel," Duo muttered quietly, his eyes clouding briefly with a painful memory. Wufei was curious to know what else had happened to his friend, but sensed that now was not a good time to ask. As if on cue they both looked out the window, the sun was close to setting. Soon this horrible day would be over.  
  
  
  
  
  
Duo and the Desert by Travaria  
  
Part 6  
  
'It's almost sunset, thank Allah,' Quatre thought as he was dragged through another house. 'If I have to spend too much longer being dragged through houses and listening to Heero subtly insult Shalen every chance he gets I am going to go completely mad!'  
  
"We only have six more houses to search," Shalen announced.  
  
"No really, however did you come to that conclusion?" Heero asked without a hint of sarcasm.  
  
"I counted?" Shalen replied, looking confused.  
  
"Of course you did, silly me," Heero added in his usual monotone. Shalen scratched his head with a puzzled look on his face. "Look it's a monkey," Heero sneered quietly so that Shalen couldn't hear. Trowa had to disguise his laugh as a cough, Quatre just groaned and wished that the day were over.  
  
********  
  
"Duo, I am going to the palace to collect provisions for dinner, I shall return shortly," Wufei said as he headed towards the door.  
  
"Fine with me Wufei, I was kinda getting hungry anyway," Duo replied with a smile. Wufei nodded and left. "What a terrible thing to have happened to Wufei," Duo murmured to himself. 'Poor Wu, it's obvious that he cared about Meiran a great deal, I think he only realized it once she was gone,' Duo thought sadly, it was a terrible thing that had happened to the honorable Chinese youth.  
  
Wufei was glad to be able to leave the little cottage. It wasn't that he disliked Duo's company or that the braided one had done anything wrong, Wufei just needed some time alone to get his thoughts together. The Chinese youth walked slowly towards the castle, enjoying the cool air and the freedom to move around. Being stuck inside all day did not sit well with him; he pitied Maxwell, who probably wouldn't be leaving that room until sometime the next day. The palace was only a short walk from the cottage, but it gave Wufei enough time to pull himself together. He quickly got enough food for them both and headed back to the cottage.  
  
********  
  
"Well, I am sorry that we didn't find the slave," Quatre apologized as he led the unhappy Shalen back into the palace. "Perhaps he went a different direction or was more prepared than you initially thought. It is easy to miss someone in a desert as vast as this one."  
  
"No, he's here, or was here, I can feel it. I'm close to finding him," Shalen replied with a slightly maniacal look in his eyes.  
  
"We searched the entire fortress, if he was here then we would have seen him," Heero said with a slightly triumphant smirk.  
  
"I'm afraid that it is too dark for you to leave today Shalen," Quatre began, this time the remorse in his voice was real. He wanted nothing more than for Shalen to leave now, but it really was too late for that. "Rashid will show you to a room in which you may stay tonight." Rashid, who had been walking with them since they had reached the palace, bowed to Shalen and led him off. Quatre then whirled around to face his lover and his General. "I cannot believe you two! You're supposed to be the two who don't show their emotions! Both of you have been acting like rude little children all day!" Quatre yelled in annoyance. Trowa had the decency to look a little embarrassed, whereas Heero just smirked at Quatre. "I nearly expected one of you to give him bunny ears or something like that!"  
  
"I was tempted," Heero replied seriously. Quatre just stared at him, his mouth moving, but no words came out. Heero smiled mentally, he had been right, that comment had stopped Quatre's rant. Trowa took one look at the shocked look on Quatre's face and the smug almost-smile on Heero's and burst into quiet chuckles, snapping Quatre out of his shock. Quatre growled at Heero before stalking off towards the dining room for dinner. It was a good thing that Shalen was eating in his room, Quatre didn't think he could have made it through another meal with him. Trowa followed his lover, still snickering quietly to himself. Heero decided to go relive Wufei of his Duo- watching duty...he only hoped that Duo had been wise enough to not annoy Wufei too much, but he doubted it.  
  
********  
  
Wufei was laughing. Wufei couldn't remember the last time he had really laughed like this. Duo was just too much sometimes. "And then Rashid came, and he looks at me and Ahameed and says, 'Master Duo, you're supposed to be in bed! Ahameed, you were supposed to make sure he stayed.' So I looked at Ahameed, and he looked at me and we picked up a few of the wet sponges that we were using to clean the mess up and threw them at Rashid. Man I have never seen someone so large move so fast; he almost caught us!" Duo continued telling the story of when he had been sick during Quatre's visit. The story itself was funny, but if you added in the gestures and faces and voices that Duo was using it was down right hilarious, and Wufei couldn't help but laugh.  
  
During a slight pause in the storytelling and laughing Duo suddenly froze and turned towards the door. "Someone is here," he whispered to Wufei. Wufei tensed and strained to hear what ever had tipped off the violet-eyed chatterbox. Then he heard it too, footsteps approaching the cottage. They both heard the sound of someone turning the knob slowly. Wufei turned to Duo with a look that clearly meant 'stay here'. Duo nodded and Wufei slipped out of the room to see who had come to the cottage. The front door opened slowly and silently. Wufei hid himself in the shadows of the unlit entry room so that he would be able to see who was there before they were able to see him. A shadowy figure entered and turned on a lamp, revealing that he was Heero. Wufei relaxed and came out of the shadows.  
  
"Next time warn us before you come barging in here Yuy, I think you might have given Duo a heart attack," Wufei lectured. Heero spun around to face him; he hadn't known that Wufei was there.  
  
"I thought that Duo was asleep, I didn't hear him talking," Heero replied. Before Wufei could reply another voice cut in.  
  
"I stopped talking when I heard you coming," Duo informed him, popping his head out of the bedroom doorway.  
  
"You heard me?" Heero asked doubtfully.  
  
"Duo has amazingly acute hearing," Wufei answered before Duo could. Duo nodded vigorously in agreement. Heero still looked doubtful, but decided to let it go.  
  
"So, what all happened today? I mean is tall, dark and ugly gone? When do I get to get out of this room? Where are Quatre and Trowa? Are they at the palace?" Duo began firing off questions as fast as he could once Heero and Wufei had entered the bedroom.  
  
"Has he been like this all day?" Heero asked Wufei, starting to really pity the poor warrior.  
  
"Actually no, I think he was saving it all for you," Wufei smirked. Heero groaned.  
  
"Look before I answer anything I am going to check your back, like I was going to do this morning," Heero replied sternly.  
  
"Oh come on, I am perfectly fine," Duo whined. "You really don't have to check anything, I mean it! I'm fine." Wufei watched amusedly as Duo whined at Heero. But Heero wasn't listening to anything that the braided boy was saying.  
  
"I am checking it. Now sit down and shut up and I will tell you what happened today," Heero demanded in a tone that left no room for argument. Duo pouted cutely, but he did sit down on the bed and removed his shirt so that Heero could check out his back. Wufei gasped when he got his first look at the cheerful boy's damaged back; he couldn't believe how many cuts and bruises there were. "Duo," Heero said sharply, Duo turned to look at him. "You reopened some of the cuts." Heero scowled, Duo was never going to heal if he didn't take better care of his wounds. "Oops," Duo replied with halfhearted innocence. Heero just growled softly and went to go get a bowl of water so that he could clean off the fresh blood. He returned shortly, still scowling. Heero quickly but gently cleaned everything off. The General then proceeded to bandage it all up, just to be safe. Wufei snickered at the faces Duo made throughout the entire ordeal.  
  
********  
  
"Quatre, are you okay?" Trowa asked his little lover after observing the way Quatre was massacring his meat. "You seem a little upset," Trowa added as Quatre violently mashed his potato.  
  
"A little upset!" Quatre growled. "I have just had one of the most stressful days of my entire life!" the Arabian lord all but screeched. "First, I spend all morning running around after Duo! Then, that stupid guard comes and demands that we search the ENTIRE fortress so that he can find Duo, and I'm forced to be kind and polite to him! Then we have to walk all over looking through everything! And on top of that you and Heero spent the entire time glaring, sneering and making stupid remarks about him!" Trowa was a little worried by Quatre's bad attitude, it didn't help when he saw that Quatre had bent his fork almost to the point at which it would have snapped. Quatre took several deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. Trowa sighed; Quatre was in one of his moods again. The taller boy got up, stood behind his love's chair, and began to give him a nice shoulder rub in hopes that it would calm him down. Luckily for Trowa, it did.  
  
********  
  
"Well Yuy, Duo, I am going to retire now," Wufei informed the other two once Heero had told them everything that had happened.  
  
"We still on for tomorrow?" Duo asked.  
  
"Of course, if you still think you're up to it, Maxwell," Wufei replied with a smirk.  
  
"Oh, bring it on Wu-man," Duo mock growled. "I'll see you tomorrow.'  
  
"Of course," Wufei retorted before he left the cottage.  
  
"Still on for what tomorrow?" Heero questioned.  
  
"Oh, nothing much," Duo shrugged, then yawned. "Wufei is just going to teach me a couple of sword styles that he thinks would suit me. And don't worry, I'll be careful not to hurt my back." Duo added before Heero could complain. "I think that I'm going to go outside for a little while," Duo then said nonchalantly.  
  
"I don't think that that is a good idea," Heero glared; going outside would be dangerous.  
  
"Heero if I stay inside any longer I am going to go completely mad. I have to get out of here, even if it's just for a little while. I just want to take a walk around the gardens," Duo complained.  
  
"Fine, but I'm going with you," Heero stated. The gardens were safe enough, they started a little ways past his cottage and wound up at the east side of the palace--and they were just the place to go if you needed to relax, which Duo did.  
  
********  
  
Shalen was restless; he just couldn't seem to go to sleep. He just kept having this feeling that he had missed something. The burly guard knew that the little slave had to be near, he just knew it! But they had searched everywhere and no one had found him. Shalen paced around his room and over to his window. He looked out the window at the magnificent desert sky and the beautiful garden that lay beneath his east-facing bedroom. It was then that he noticed the two figures walking in the garden. He looked closer; one appeared to be General Yuy. Shalen couldn't really see the other figure very well. Shalen looked as hard as he could but he could barely distinguish that the figure wore a long braid. Like the slave, but then again many people wore braids. Then he realized that they were talking and strained his ears to listen. He heard Yuy say something to the other figure that then replied. Shalen hadn't been able to hear the words that were said, but the voice of the other figure was that of the slave! They had lied to him! The blasted slave had been here the entire time! 'Well, they may have thought they could trick me, but now I will have the last laugh!' Shalen thought evilly to himself. 'I will pretend that I never saw him, and then tomorrow I will return to Treize and tell him where his pathetic slave has gotten to and they will be powerless to stop us from taking him back to where he belongs!'  
  
Shalen grinned and let out a slightly maniacal laugh, quietly so that the two figures strolling in the garden wouldn't hear. Then the guard yawned. Suddenly he didn't feel so restless anymore; after all, he had found his prize. Shalen grinned again and then laid himself out on the bed and instantly fell asleep, content that he had completed his task and found Lord Treize's worthless slave.  
  
to be continued... 


	4. Chapters 7 and 8

Duo and the Desert by Travaria  
  
Part 7  
  
Duo took a deep breath, taking pleasure in the cool desert air; it was wonderful to be outside after spending so many hours stuck in the cottage. The flowers were beautiful, especially at night when their petals were kissed by the pale moonlight. Duo strolled down one aisle and then up another, admiring the variety of plants that Quatre was able to grow in the harsh desert climate. He was utterly content, especially since he could sense Heero following his every move. Then he saw them--near the eastern wall of Quatre's palace there was a large patch of irises. Duo froze and looked at them, a curiously sad smile on his face. He then sat himself down right in front of them and reached out a hand to gently touch the nearest petal.  
  
"What is it?" Heero asked quietly.  
  
"Irises."  
  
"I know that, but why did you stop?" Heero questioned, a little annoyed.  
  
"To look at them," Duo replied. Heero growled slightly, this was getting him nowhere, he only wanted to understand Duo better. Before Heero could ask a more detailed question, Duo started talking again, his voice almost wistful.  
  
"Irises were always 'kassan's favorite flower. She grew them all year round. During their growing season we had beds of them everywhere. During the seasons when the outside irises died 'kassan had tons of them that she would grow inside. I used to ask her why she liked them so much and she would always tell me that you didn't need a reason to like something, you only needed a reason to dislike it. I would usually pout and tell her that that wasn't what I meant. Then she'd tell me that if she had to pick a reason why she liked them, then it was because they were violet, like my eyes." Duo paused and then continued. "I never believed her, you know, I always thought that she said that to avoid answering my question. I believe her now, but it's too late to tell her that I understand what she meant every time she said things like that." Heero reached out as if to touch the now silent boy, but pulled his hand back at the last second.  
  
"It sounds like she really cared about you," Heero said gently.  
  
"Yeah, she did," Duo said, standing up. "But I've always wondered why, I was always nothing but trouble for father and 'kassan." Heero looked at his braided companion incredulously. 'Can't he see why everyone likes him so much? He's smart and cute and funny and easy to talk to. Sure, he can be a lot of trouble, but no one ever cares because everything we do for him is worth it, everything we have to put up with is worth it. His friendship is more than worth the trouble we had with Shalen today. Anything would be more than worth it for him to care about me, like I care about him,' Heero's mind was a flurry of confusing thoughts and feelings, all of them about the innocent boy still looking wistfully at the irises.  
  
"Do you think Quatre would mind if I picked one of these?" Duo asked, gesturing at the irises. "I want to put one of them in mine and 'kassan's box."  
  
"I don't think he would. But here, I'll pick it, that way if anyone gets in trouble it will be me," Heero said as he reached down and picked one of the beautiful flowers. Duo smiled at him as he handed it to the braided one.  
  
"Let's go in now, okay Heero? I think I've had enough of a walk for tonight." Heero nodded and they walked back to the cottage in companionable silence.  
  
Once inside Duo went over to the dresser where his box and necklaces had been set. The violet-eyed youth grabbed the precious objects and settled himself in the middle of Heero's big bed. Heero sat down next to him, curious to know what he was doing. Duo fit the gold and silver necklaces together and used them to open the bejeweled box. Inside there was an odd assortment of objects: a scrap of fabric, a cross, a purple ribbon, a handkerchief with three sets of initials embroidered on it, and what appeared to be an old set of lock-picks. Duo smiled sadly at the collection of what appeared to be junk and then ever so gently he laid the freshly picked iris in the box with the rest of the objects.  
  
"See Heero, that piece of fabric is the part of 'kassan's wedding dress that ripped off. The cross was father's, it belonged to a friend of his who was a priest. He gave it to father for me," Duo said to Heero, explaining to his friend why the objects were kept and treasured.  
  
"One of my favorite objects in here is the ribbon, I met up with father and 'kassan because of it. You see, I had stolen father's moneybag and when I opened it up there were no coins, but there was this ribbon inside. I was puzzled, I kept wondering why a noble would have no money on him and still carry around a little ribbon. I was especially curious because it was a guy with very short hair, what would he need a ribbon for anyway? Well I needed a ribbon because even back then my hair was pretty long and it kept getting in my way...so I used his ribbon to tie it back. The next time I saw him he was at a cloth merchant. You see the ribbon I had stolen was made of a very rare cloth, and he was trying to buy another one. He was telling the merchant about how he had bought it to cheer up his wife because she had just lost her baby, but the merchant didn't have anymore of that cloth. I overheard their whole conversation, and I felt really bad, I didn't want to make the lady sad. So I untied the ribbon, and tugged on the noble's cloak. When he looked down I shoved the ribbon into his hand and turned to go, but he had grabbed me. He asked me where I had got the ribbon from, and I told him that I stole it from him. He looked shocked for a little while, but then he asked me why I had given it back, I told him that I didn't want to make the lady sad, and that I didn't really need the ribbon, I had been looking for money. He asked where my parents were, so I told him I didn't have any. Then he just swept me up and hauled me off into their home. 'Kassan always said that I was a much better present then the ribbon," Duo laughed, remembering happier times.  
  
"What about the rest, the handkerchief and the lock picks?" Heero asked.  
  
"That's 'kassan's favorite handkerchief, it has all of our initials embroidered on it, see," Duo showed Heero the delicate white cloth that had their initials stitched on it in a light violet thread. "She always did everything in purples, it was always her favorite color and she used to tell me that since my eyes were purple it meant that we were made for each other." Heero traced his finger over the delicate thread. "The lock-picks used to belonged to my older brother," Duo added lost in another sad memory.  
  
"His name was Solo, right?" Heero asked.  
  
"Yeah, I don't know what our parents were thinking when they named him," Duo said, bemused. "See, my name isn't really Duo, I don't even know what my name was, or even if I ever had one. Solo and me were abandoned when I was just a little baby. Someone took care of us for awhile, I don't remember who, I was really young. Eventually Solo and I had to leave. I looked up to my big brother so much; I always had people call me Duo, so that I could be more like him. He was a great guy, he not only took care of himself, but he somehow managed to take care of me, too. I still remember the day he gave me those lock-picks...he had acquired another set, and since he figured I was responsible enough he gave me these. I was so proud of myself; I was so happy that Solo thought that I was responsible. I never could bring myself to get rid of them." Duo smiled a very sad smile, as he gently caressed the lock-picks.  
  
"What happened to him?" Heero asked after a few minutes of silence. Duo bit his lip and looked down, sadness written all over his features. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Heero said quickly, not wanting to upset the beautiful boy.  
  
"No, I want to tell you, it's just a sad story, that's all. See Solo was always looking out for me, always worried about what happened to me. One time there was this man--I had stolen from him, but he caught me. The man was very drunk, and I don't think he quite knew what he was doing. He grabbed me by my hair and lifted me off the floor; it hurt a lot, so I screamed. He drew a knife, and I got really scared. He said that he was going to punish me for stealing from him, and that little thieves like me didn't deserve to live. Before he could do anything, Solo came barreling out of the shadows and knocked into the man's legs, Solo had heard me scream and had come to my rescue like he always did. The man was caught by surprise, and he fell, but he quickly got up again and lunged at Solo. I tried to stop him, but it was too little too late, he had cut a big gash across Solo's chest and stomach. Solo screamed, and I screamed, and someone came out to investigate so the man ran off. I pulled Solo into the shadows, he always told me to never let the adults see us. I tried to stop the bleeding, but I didn't know what to do, and Solo died in my arms telling me that I needed to be more careful next time. For a long time I didn't know what to do, I just wandered around the streets staying in the shadows and not letting people see me. I didn't eat, or drink, and I tried my best not to sleep. It took me a long time to realize that that wasn't something that Solo'd want me to do, so I snapped out of it and went on with my life, but it was hard...so very hard." Duo concluded, the last part spoken softly as if to himself. Heero didn't know what to do. He wanted to comfort Duo, but he wasn't sure how. So the General followed his instincts and scooted closer to his braided friend. Duo seemed to lean towards him, so Heero put a cautious arm around him. Duo then buried himself into Heero's side; it took all of his willpower just to hold back the tears that threatened to fall whenever he thought of his brother, but for some reason it made him feel better to have Heero near him, holding him.  
  
That sat in silence for a while, Duo cradled against Heero's side and Heero softly stroking his back and side. "I think that it might be time for us to go to bed, it has been a very long day," Heero said softly, breaking the silence. Duo nodded into his side and scooted back. "I will see you in the morning."  
  
"Goodnight Heero," Duo yawned as he watched Heero get off the bed and leave. As soon as Heero had shut the door behind him, Duo had collapsed into sleep; the day had been far too much for his damaged body and his fragile psyche.  
  
Heero walked into the guestroom and laid down on his bed; but he had no thoughts of sleeping. Heero had many things to think about, and almost all of them somehow pertained to a certain violet-eyed boy sleeping just down the hall. Everything that Duo did confused him, one minute the braided enigma was bouncing off the walls, the next he was being dead serious, and the next he was teasing, and then he was being fiercely independent or acting completely dependent--Heero didn't understand him at all, he was so unpredictable. Heero sighed, if he kept trying to figure out Duo Maxwell then he would never get any sleep.  
  
********  
  
The sun was shining in Shalen's face, effectively waking him. For a minute he moaned and groaned and tried to go back to sleep, but then he remembered what he had seen before he had fallen asleep. 'I must get up now, the sooner I get up, the sooner I leave, the sooner I tell Treize that I have found the slave,' the burly guard's lips twisted into a malicious grin. He then proceeded to get out of bed and get dressed as swiftly as possible. As soon as he was dressed Shalen hurried out of his room and down towards the dining room, if anyone was already awake then they would be in there.  
  
"Ah, Shalen, you're up early," Quatre greeted Shalen as he hastily entered the dining room.  
  
"I wish to be off as soon as possible," Shalen said, not wasting any time.  
  
"If that is what you wish, then you may leave as soon as you are ready," Quatre replied.  
  
"I need a horse," Shalen added, he didn't even ask, figuring that he could get anything he wanted off of the softie who was willing to hide slaves. Trowa nearly growled at his presumptuousness.  
  
"I am sure that my groom can get one for you, but how will you get it back to us?" Quatre managed to ask without showing any of the anger he felt at being treated like a pushover--and being forced to act like one.  
  
"Lord Treize will find a way," Shalen replied confidently.  
  
"Of course he will. Trowa and I will walk you down to the stables and help you get a mount," Quatre said, the slightest hint of annoyance in his voice- -which Shalen completely missed. The three people proceeded to walk down to the stable. Shalen was impatient, Trowa was silently fuming, and Quatre was already ready to strangle someone (preferably Shalen).  
  
Once at the stables Quatre quickly took the lead. "Why don't you two stay here while I go talk to the head groom, too many people startle the horses." Shalen and Trowa nodded. Quatre quickly found the head groom and told him to tack up a serviceable but expendable horse. In almost no time Quatre was leading the aging but still useful dun mare out for Shalen. As soon as Quatre got out of the stable, Shalen grabbed the reins and mounted.  
  
"I thank you for your hospitality, but I must be going now." With that said, Shalen forced the horse into a gallop and was quickly out of sight.  
  
"Thank Allah that he is finally gone!"  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Duo and the Desert by Travaria  
  
Part 8  
  
A perfectly placed slant of sunlight landed right across Duo's eyes. The braided youth stirred slightly, his body and mind were being pulled into consciousness by the light. A sleepy groan escaped his slightly parted lips as he prepared to turn over, effectively displacing the persistent sunbeam that seemed determined to wake him from his much needed rest. But then his conscious thought finally caught up with his subconscious instincts and he remembered that he had to meet Wufei that morning. With another louder moan, Duo forced himself to sit up, wincing when that action caused his poor back to twinge. The braided boy yawned a jaw-splitting yawn and rolled off the bed and onto his feet. A quick look out the window informed him that he was behind the schedule he had set for himself, now that really woke him up.  
  
"Oh crap! I'm late!" Duo exclaimed before dissolving into a flurry of movement. The braided one grabbed at the outfit that was draped on a chair, it was obviously meant for him--it was black after all. After shedding random bits of clothing while pacing the room Duo managed to get his pants on. He proceeded stiffly as he tried to get his shirt on. His main problem was that he couldn't move his arms far enough to get both of his hands through the armholes. He was basically turning around in circles, cursing, and trying to grab his other sleeve. At least that was how Heero Yuy found him when he entered the room with Duo's breakfast. The scene was so comical that even Heero was forced to smile at the baka.  
  
"What exactly are you doing?" Heero asked clearly amused. A very startled Duo spun around to face him, blushing furiously.  
  
"Well you see, I was trying to get on my shirt but this one is smaller than the one I had on yesterday so I can't get my other arm in the sleeve. I thought that if I could manage to grab a hold of it that I might be able to get it on, but it isn't working very well," Duo replied sheepishly. He could only imagine what he looked like, turning around in circles with half a shirt on and what felt like half his hair out of his braid. Heero crossed over to the dresser and set the tray of breakfast he was carrying down before moving over to Duo and helping him into his shirt.  
  
"Why were you in such a hurry anyway?" Heero asked after Duo was fully clothed and was unraveling his braid.  
  
"I have to meet Wufei in a little while and I really don't want to be late," Duo replied, struggling to brush out his hair. "Do you think you could help me with this? I can't reach back to it," Duo added, gesturing to his hair. Heero moved next to him, grabbed the hairbrush, and began brushing out the thigh length hair with a slight frown on his face.  
  
"About that...I don't think it's a very good idea, Duo," Heero insisted. Duo tried to turn around to argue with him, but Heero firmly turned his head forward again.  
  
"Look Heero, I'll be fine! You know that Wufei would never do anything that he didn't think I could handle, and I do know my own limitations!" Duo exclaimed exasperatedly.  
  
"You are never going to heal if you don't take better care of your wounds," Heero retorted, his words echoing his thoughts from the night before.  
  
"Heero, I do know what I'm doing; what happened yesterday was only because I was panicking and wasn't thinking," Duo explained. "I really want to do this and not just because I want to learn, either. I want to get to know Wufei, I want to be his friend, and I want to share something with him. Do you know what I mean?" Heero stared at Duo's back for several seconds, in awe of the strength of Duo's resolve to befriend the lonely Chinese warrior.  
  
"I suppose...but be careful, alright?" Heero finished brushing and braiding Duo's hair just as he finished speaking.  
  
"Thanks Heero, I knew you would understand," Duo replied happily and turned around and caught Heero in a hug, which the solider managed to carefully return. "I'll be careful, I promise!" said Duo as he released Heero. Then he bounced over to the food and began to eat his breakfast.  
  
"Baka," Heero muttered.  
  
********  
  
"Good morning Wufei," Quatre greeted the warrior as he and Trowa passed the Chinese diplomat, who was on his way to breakfast.  
  
"Morning. Has our 'guest' left yet?" Wufei sneered.  
  
"Thankfully, he blew out of here as soon as he could, so he is very much gone," Quatre replied with audible relief.  
  
"Good. Maxwell and I have many things to do that could not be completed while he was here," Wufei added, smirking slightly.  
  
"Are you and Duo getting along alright? You aren't planning on doing anything to him are you?" Quatre asked, slightly suspicious. Wufei snorted.  
  
"Of course not! Duo and I have gotten to be quite good friends actually," Wufei retorted, giving Quatre a look. Trowa smiled slightly at Wufei's strong reply.  
  
"I'm sorry, I was just making sure. I mean, I know how annoying he can get and you were trapped inside with him all day," Quatre said sheepishly.  
  
"Actually, Duo wasn't annoying at all yesterday, he is a good person," Wufei said. He then nodded goodbye and continued down the hall.  
  
"I don't believe it, Duo actually got on Wufei's good side! That is remarkable," Quatre remarked to Trowa. Trowa thought for a second before replying.  
  
"It really isn't that surprising. Duo seems to know exactly what everyone's limits are. When Treize captured him, he pushed just past the limits, knowing he was crossing the line--which was his intent. Since he arrived here, he has figured out both Heero's and Wufei's limits, and since he wishes to befriend them he has used that knowledge to avoid annoying them. It is quite simple," Trowa said, concluding his unnaturally long speech. Quatre shrugged.  
  
"I suppose that you are right, as always," the blond lord mock-complained. Trowa smiled slightly at him.  
  
********  
  
Duo had finished his breakfast and was about to bolt out the door when Heero grabbed onto his arm. "You can't leave yet," Heero told him firmly.  
  
"Why not!? There's no reason that I couldn't," Duo protested as he struggled to pull his arm out of Heero's tight grip.  
  
"Shalen might not have left yet," Heero reminded him. "You can't so much as leave this room until I am sure he is gone," Heero demanded. Duo sighed and stopped struggling.  
  
"I suppose you're right," the dejected youth mumbled.  
  
"Good. Now I'm going to go up to the palace and see where Shalen is," Heero added, releasing Duo's arm. Heero left the room and went to go, but before he could leave there was a knock on the door. Heero nodded his head towards the bedroom and Duo scurried back into it, shutting the door behind him. Heero cautiously opened the front door and was greeted by slanted sloe- black eyes. Heero sighed slightly in relief.  
  
"Shalen is gone, I'm here for Maxwell," Wufei said, shortly and to the point. At the sound of his voice the bedroom door fairly exploded outward and a black-clad blur raced out.  
  
"Wu-man!" Duo exclaimed, glomping on to said youth.  
  
"Get off of me Duo," Wufei muttered unhappily.  
  
"Sure thing Wufei!" Duo exclaimed, immediately letting go and bouncing to Heero who had watched the whole display with faint amusement. "See Heero, Shalen's gone and Wufei is here, so I'm going now, okay?" Duo asked. Before Heero could answer Duo was already out the door and dragging the mildly irritated Wufei behind him.  
  
"Unhand me, Maxwell," Wufei mock-growled as soon as they were out of Heero's sight.  
  
"Sorry Wufei, but did you actually think that we would have gotten out of there if I hadn't done something like that?" Duo responded, releasing Wufei's hand and slowing down until he was walking at a normal speed. Wufei snorted.  
  
"I suppose you're right. Heero had that 'there is no way that you are doing that' look on his face. He seems to be rather protective of you," Wufei remarked, bemused. Duo giggled.  
  
"It's kinda funny sometimes, you should have seen the look on his face last night when I told him what we were planning on doing today, it was hilarious," Duo giggled, Wufei smiled slightly.  
  
"Well, I suggest that we commence to the fencing grounds and get to work," Wufei suggested once Duo's giggles had subsided.  
  
"Of course Wufei, let's get going!" Duo replied enthusiastically and they went off to practice.  
  
********  
  
Trowa and Quatre had decided to return to the dining room--Shalen had interrupted their last attempt at breakfast. They had just sat down to begin their meal when the doors to the dining room burst open and a very annoyed-looking Heero stalked in, scowling at everyone and no one.  
  
"Is something wrong, Heero?" Quatre asked, a little worried by Heero's bad mood.  
  
"Everything is fine," Heero practically growled and collapsed angrily into one of the chairs at the table.  
  
"It doesn't seem that way," Trowa remarked. Heero glared fiercely at Trowa while serving himself some breakfast.  
  
********  
  
"Well Duo, I will need an assessment of your skills," Wufei informed Duo once they had reached the fencing grounds. The fencing grounds were merely a couple of rings filled with packed dirt instead of the usual sand. Their best feature was that they were shaded.  
  
"It's not that I'm bad with a sword, it's just that I only have a very basic knowledge of its uses. There was no need for me to learn anymore and at the time I wasn't interested. I had always preferred the shadows to a fight," Duo shrugged.  
  
"So you now wish to gain a greater understanding of its uses?" Wufei asked. At Duo's enthusiastic nod he continued.  
  
"I know a style that would suit you perfectly. It relies on a person's speed and strategy rather than strength."  
  
"Now that sounds like something that I could do," Duo grinned.  
  
"Just because it is not focused on strength does not mean that it will be easy," Wufei replied sternly. "It will take a great deal of hard work and determination. We will have to start slow because of your back."  
  
"I didn't say it would be easy, just that it seemed perfect for me. I am fully prepared to learn Wufei; I can do it," Duo replied sincerely.  
  
"Good, then let us begin," Wufei smirked, Duo would be a good student, he had the attitude and seemed to be a quick study.  
  
********  
  
"Your cousin is a reckless idiot!" Heero exclaimed suddenly in the middle of eating breakfast. Quatre and Trowa shared a look--so that's what had been bothering Heero.  
  
"What did he do this time, Heero?" Quatre asked, hard-pressed to hide the amusement he felt at the idea of Heero playing 'mother' to Duo.  
  
"What he needs is to stay in bed or at least to rest! But what does that braided idiot do? He decides to learn swordplay from Wufei!" Heero scowled. Quatre frowned in thought for a moment.  
  
"Good," Quatre finally said.  
  
"What do you mean 'good'?" Heero growled.  
  
"Heero, Duo is not capable of keeping himself inactive. He always has to do something, preferably something that requires movement. Training with Wufei will not only keep him out of mischief and improve his swordmanship, but it will also help to forge a strong bond between our warrior Wufei and our playful Duo. A bond that will prove invaluable if there is ever any trouble with Treize," Quatre replied calmly, Trowa nodded his agreement. Heero looked as if he was about to say something but decided better of it and simply let out an exasperated sigh. Heero really hated losing.  
  
********  
  
"Let's take a break, Duo," Wufei said gruffly after a couple of hours of training. Duo was doing excellently, but Wufei was a bit worried about putting too much strain on him.  
  
"Sounds good to me," Duo replied with a grin. He was a little short of breath, but not dangerously so. "This a lot more fun than I thought it would be."  
  
"You find this fun?" Wufei asked doubtfully, "Most people find it grueling, boring, and hard." Duo laughed.  
  
"You should know by now that I'm hardly most people, Wufei," Duo chuckled as he sat himself down.  
  
"Yes, but you do seem to be the kind who would find this boring, if not hard," Wufei remarked.  
  
"There is much more to me then what there seems to be. I absolutely love learning new things," Duo said. "There is just something so invigorating about acquiring a new skill."  
  
"Perhaps we are more alike than anyone thought, Maxwell," Wufei responded.  
  
"Of course we are Wu-man," Duo joked. "Well, I'm done resting, let's get back to work!" 


	5. Chapters 9 and 10

Duo and the Desert by Travaria  
  
Part 9  
  
It was time for lunch. It was past noon, but Duo wasn't back yet. The braided baka was still off messing around with Wufei when he should have been resting. Heero was starting to get rather upset.  
  
'Where is he?! He really needs to rest; they should both know that! Maybe I should go look for Duo,' Heero thought. 'Why should I look for him though, I know he's not lost and Wufei wouldn't let anything happen to him. I have no reason to worry. But I am worried. Why? Perhaps they just lost track of time and haven't realized that it's lunchtime yet. I'm sure Duo will get hungry and drag Wufei back sooner or later,' Heero reasoned with himself. Heero fidgeted slightly in his chair. The seconds seemed to pass like hours. Heero didn't like the way time seemed to be slowing down. 'That's it, I'm going after them!' Heero swiftly rose from his chair and stormed out of the room. Quatre was slightly disturbed by his General's behavior. First he had just been sitting in that chair staring at the door as if he was expecting it to open. Then he had been fidgeting! Heero Yuy did not fidget! Then he just got up and stormed out.  
  
"Trowa, do you think Heero's okay?" Quatre asked his quiet advisor.  
  
"Don't worry so much, Quatre," Trowa replied.  
  
"But he's been acting so weird all of the sudden. He was fidgeting, for Allah's sake!" Quatre exclaimed.  
  
"Quatre, he's fine," Trowa said, Quatre tried to say something else but Trowa stopped him. "Quatre-love, it's obvious that Heero's only problem is that he's fallen for Duo, hard. He probably just ran off to drag Duo back here and make him rest."  
  
"Do you really think that Heero is in love with him--so soon?" Quatre asked.  
  
"Of course," Trowa answered, giving his lover a kiss. "I fell in love with you the moment I saw you."  
  
********  
  
After what seemed like forever Heero had finally made it to the fencing grounds. He froze at the sight that greeted him. Wufei was standing on the outer edge of the ring, hands resting on the hilt of his sword, which was stuck into the ground, watching his braided student and every now and then calling out instructions. Duo was in the center of the ring going through set routine of what had to be the most beautiful and graceful moves Heero had ever seen, but perhaps it was more the mover than the moves. Within an instant Heero had forgotten his reason for coming down and was swept away watching Duo move.  
  
"Good Duo," Wufei called out, "Remember, you are concentrating on the motions and the grace, not speed." Duo slowed down his movements slightly. Wufei nodded in approval, even though he knew that Duo was concentrating and wouldn't see it. Heero and Wufei both watched for several minutes until Heero finally remembered why he was there in the first place and cleared his throat, alerting Wufei of his presence. Wufei spun around to face him.  
  
"Yuy," Wufei greeted inclining his head slightly. "What brings you down here?"  
  
"It's getting late," Heero replied. Wufei looked up and scrutinized the sun.  
  
"You are correct, it is later than I thought," Wufei responded. "Duo, enough." Duo quickly finished his last move and stopped.  
  
"Hey! Hee-chan, when did you get here?" Duo asked as he trotted over to his friends. Heero shrugged.  
  
"Little while ago," Heero answered.  
  
"Cool. So what brings you here anyway?" Duo questioned, "And why did you have me stop, Wufei?"  
  
"Yuy came because it is time for lunch. You have practiced enough for the day," Wufei said, answering both questions.  
  
"It's already lunchtime?" Duo asked incredulously looking up at the sky. "It is! I can't believe I didn't notice! Well, if we're done here let's go have lunch, now that I know what time it is I'm starving!"  
  
********  
  
Trowa and Quatre were just sitting down for lunch when Duo bounded into the room with Heero and Wufei in tow.  
  
"Hey Q, you weren't thinking about starting without us were you?" Duo joked, sliding into a chair across from Trowa.  
  
"Of course not Duo, I would never dream of doing such a thing," Quatre replied innocently. Heero took the chair next to Duo and Wufei seated himself across from Heero and next to Quatre. Just as everyone had been seated lunch was brought in and everyone started eating.  
  
"So what is everyone doing this afternoon?" Quatre asked. "Trowa and I have a lot of paperwork to do, if anyone wants to help us," Quatre teased, knowing that there was nothing that the other three hated more than paperwork.  
  
"I think we'll have to pass, Q," Duo replied, wrinkling his nose at the very idea. Quatre pouted cutely but that didn't even get him a sympathetic look from anyone but Trowa.  
  
"What are you doing, Heero?" Duo asked. "Can I hang out with you, please? Wufei is busy, he told me so earlier, and there is no way I'm doing paperwork." Duo used his most pitiful face, complete with cute puppy dog eyes.  
  
"Hn. I guess," Heero muttered with the look of one bestowing a great favor, but inside he couldn't be happier. 'He wants to stay with me, I can be with him all day!' Heero's mind voice sang.  
  
**Two weeks later**  
  
A guard politely entered Treize's tent and awaited his lord's notice. "Well, what is it?" Treize asked irritably after several minutes of silence. The Kushrenada lord had been in a bad mood ever since Duo had disappeared. As soon as the disappearance was discovered, he sent several scouts out in search and had immediately turned his caravan around to return to Zechs's kingdom so that they could inform him that not only was Duo alive but he was on the loose.  
  
"Sir. Shalen has returned and is ready to report, Sir," the guard answered swiftly with a salute.  
  
"Send him in at once," Treize replied, the guard scurried to do his bidding. "And he better have good news," Treize growled once the guard was gone, he was one unhappy noble. After a few moments, Shalen entered, bowing low to his leader. "Report, Captain."  
  
"Of course, Sir. I have wonderful news, Lord Treize; I have located the runaway slave. He has been at the Magaunac settlement; Quatre Winner was hiding him from me, your majesty," Shalen reported.  
  
"So, Winner thought he could hide the brat? I wonder why," Treize mused, an evil-looking smile on his face matched the malevolent look in his eyes. "They are probably related somehow. With all those sisters of Winner's, it's entirely possible. Since I have no desire to start a war with Quatre, we will have to do this secretly. Shalen, I want you to take five men with you back to the Magaunac settlement. Do not let them know that you are there. You are to sneak in and retrieve my slave by any means necessary, so long as you are not identified as the culprit. Is that clear?" Treize ordered.  
  
"Of course my Lord, I shall do so at once," Shalen replied, bowing and exiting the tent, intent on doing his Lord's bidding.  
  
"Excellent," Treize murmured. "Soon I shall have everything that I want--he shall pay dearly for defying me."  
  
**One week later**  
  
It had been three weeks and Duo couldn't be happier. Every morning he and Heero had breakfast together before Duo went off to train with Wufei. Sometimes Heero would come too, either to watch or help, whatever he felt like doing. At first Wufei had been hesitant to let him come, thinking that he would distract Duo, but Heero had the opposite effect on the braided boy. Whenever Heero was there Duo would work harder and concentrate better, whether it was in hopes that he would impress Heero or if it was just a subconscious reaction to Heero's presence Wufei didn't know, either way Duo did better when Heero was there. After sword practice they would have lunch with Quatre and Trowa, which was always a fun, relaxing, drawn-out affair because all of them liked to just take a break from the day at that point. After lunch Duo went with Heero, whatever Heero did Duo came along, whether it was taking care of army business or helping Quatre, it didn't matter to Duo. He had discovered that he just liked to be around Heero, no matter what they were doing.  
  
The evening meal was always taken slowly. They used it as a time for relaxation and bonding. Everyone got to know each other better, in the past they hadn't talked too much over meals and the meals also tended to be simpler, but with Duo around everyone felt more of an urge to talk to each other and enjoy everyone's company. After dinner they sometimes would hang out in the study together, sometimes they wouldn't be able to. But the one constant thing that happened after dinner and before bed was that Duo and Heero would take a walk through the gardens, delighting in the cool night air, the beautiful plants, and each other. And slowly Duo discovered that he had fallen in love with the cobalt-eyed General that had rescued him from the harsh desert. Now the only problem was how to tell him.  
  
Duo looked up at the star-filled sky, searching for constellations. "Aren't the stars beautiful Heero?" Duo asked whimsically, not expecting an answer. "Do you know what my favorite thing about them is?" Heero remained silent; Duo would often ask questions that did not require his quiet partner to answer. "I love the fact that they are always the same, no matter what happens or where you go. The stars I'm seeing now are the same stars that I used to watch with 'kaasan and father. They're the same stars that I would look at when me and Shini would spend the night outside to escape the cramped palace walls. They're the same stars that I followed every time I journeyed at night on my way here, and no matter what happens after today they will still always be the same stars."  
  
"Hn," Heero grunted softly, not knowing what to say and unknowingly ruining the moment. Duo burst out laughing.  
  
"What is your favorite thing about the night sky?" Duo asked seriously once he had managed to stop his laughter.  
  
"I like the sky, not the stars or the moon, but the actual sky," Heero replied thoughtfully after a moment. Duo looked at him quizzically.  
  
"Why?"  
  
Heero hesitated before answering. "At first glance, it looks like an empty black background, cold and even frightening. But if you look again you'll see that it's actually a soothing dark blue blanket that cradles the stars and the moon in its gentle embrace." Duo looked at Heero and smiled hugely.  
  
"That was beautiful Heero," Duo said, leaning against his friend slightly. Heero mouth quirked into an almost imperceptible smile and he put an arm around the braided beauty who was looking up at him with radiant violet eyes.  
  
"Come on, let's head back now," Heero, said still smiling slightly. Duo nodded and they headed home. It didn't take them long to reach the cottage and soon Heero had bid his companion goodnight and had retreated to the guestroom that he was still staying in. Heero sat on his bed with no illusions of sleep. Heero was very confused as to what it was that he felt around the beautiful boy sleeping just down the hall.  
  
'Why is it that he is always on my mind? Even when I'm doing something, I'll be thinking about him. I enjoy being around him a lot; it's gotten to the point where I dislike not being around him. But what is it that I feel towards him? I care about him, and I like him, and I definitely find him attractive both physically and mentally. What does all that mean?' Heero thought to himself while staring out the only window in the room up at the sky, the stars. 'Do I love him?' Heero was startled slightly by this thought. 'I do, don't I? I'm in love with him.' Heero was scared for a minute, scared of how strongly he felt towards Duo, but at the same time he was relived to have finally figured out his feelings. Heero sighed; there would be little sleep that night.  
  
  
  
  
  
Duo and the Desert by Travaria  
  
Part 10  
  
Duo couldn't sleep--which used to be an everyday occurrence, but that was before he had come to live here with his friends. There was no particular reason why he couldn't sleep; he just had a feeling. Duo shivered despite the warm desert air and the blanket he was wrapped in. He had the weirdest feeling--like something bad was going to happen--but that was ridiculous, nothing could happen to him here, he was safe. Duo sighed, there was no way he was getting any sleep soon, it was just one of those nights. The braided youth slipped out of bed and wandered over to the window. Looking out at the sky he figured that all he needed to do was burn off the restless energy that had been building the entire afternoon.  
  
Duo slipped out of the window quietly, not wanting to wake Heero up. As soon as his bare feet touched the ground he began to run, efficiently starting to burn off some of the energy. He concentrated on the soothing, rhythmic sound of his feet pounding on the dirt trail, but it wasn't enough. Duo could feel the night humming in his bones; the way it had when he was still on the streets and the best time to do anything was at night. He rarely got these night flashes anymore as he was more used to sleeping at night and doing things in the day instead of the other way around, but every now and then he'd go into 'night mode' and need to go through some serious measures to get to sleep. So the violet-eyed boy headed for the fencing rings, figuring that a few hours of practice would calm him down enough to sleep.  
  
********  
  
Heero sat up in his bed swiftly, he had heard something. The solider listened intently; waiting for a repeat of the sound that had alerted him in the first place. He really hoped it wasn't someone causing trouble, otherwise he might just have to hurt him or her for disturbing his rest. It wasn't like he had actually been asleep, but he had just gotten comfortable, both in his bed and with his feelings. He growled deep in his throat when he heard another sound and he went over to the window. He glanced out of it just in time to see Duo running down the path, in a flash his curiosity over came his irritation and he was out the window following his friend.  
  
It appeared that Duo was just running aimlessly with no destination in mind. Suddenly Duo's whole demeanor changed, he was now running with a purpose, a destination. Heero followed at a slower pace, but not so slow that he ever lost sight of his friend. When Heero figured out where the braided one was heading he was a little surprised. Who practiced swordplay in the middle of the night? But Heero's suspicions were confirmed when Duo slipped into the training ring with his sword in hand. Heero stood silently as Duo warmed up with some simple moves. He watched as Duo launched into the difficult routine that Wufei had taught him that morning, but after a while his curiosity reinstated itself and he had to break the silence. "Why are you up?" Heero said out of the blue. His voice startled Duo and the braided boy jumped several feet in the air, spinning around to face the intruder.  
  
"Jeez Heero, you scared me," Duo said, letting out a small sigh of relief once he had seen it was Heero. "What are you doing out here anyway?" Heero's eyebrow arched on its own accord.  
  
"Following you," the General replied with a slight smirk. "So the real question is, what are *you* doing out here?" Duo blushed slightly, embarrassed to be caught wandering around in the middle of the night.  
  
"Well you see sometimes I just can't get to sleep at night, so I have to go out and do something to tire myself out or I'll never get to sleep. It's like a lingering side effect from when I stayed on the streets," Duo answered, crossing over to stand next to Heero.  
  
"Does this happen often?" Heero asked, slightly disturbed by the thought that Duo had been roaming all over the place with out his knowledge.  
  
"Not any more," Duo answered with a shrug. "In fact, this is the first time it's happened since I got here. I'm sorry if I disturbed your sleep."  
  
"I was awake," Heero responded.  
  
"That's good. Well, I'm going to be out here for a while, so you might as well go back to bed," Duo replied.  
  
"I can't very well get to sleep now," Heero drawled. "Why don't you and I spar?"  
  
"Because I always lose!" Duo replied. "It's not any fun when I always lose!"  
  
"It's good practice."  
  
"You're only saying that because you always win," Duo responded, Heero smirked and shrugged. "Fine, I suppose I don't have much choice. It is my fault that you're awake." Heero nodded and picked up a sword.  
  
********  
  
Shalen and his small troop stopped for the night. It was well past midnight because Shalen had been driving the men and their horses as hard as he could. They had almost reached the Magaunac settlement. The small troop of men were making much faster progress than Shalen had--they were due to arrive at the settlement by the next afternoon. They would wait until nightfall to come of course so they wouldn't be seen. Shalen could hardly contain his excitement, once they had captured the idiotic slave and dragged him back to Lord Treize then he would be the most respected of all of Treize's men. The Lord would most likely make him his next in command. Shalen grinned; they were almost there.  
  
While Shalen was ignorantly planning his promotion, his troops were complaining. The rest of the men were huddled around the small fire they were using to cook "dinner" since Shalen hadn't let them stop to eat before. None of them were happy about how their "captain" was running things. They started marching before dawn, and they didn't stop until midnight. It wasn't even a normal march; it was fast-paced and ground eating. Sure they were going to get there fast, but what was the point if you were completely exhausted by the time you got there? So the men were plotting. They knew better than to do anything that would jeopardize the retrieval of the slave, but once they had him...  
  
********  
  
Heero and Duo were locked in what appeared to be furious combat in the center of the training ring. Luckily, they both knew that they would never hurt each other. Heero's face was calm and expressionless as he fought, despite the fact that he felt like laughing at the faces his companion was making. Duo had his tongue stuck out the side of his mouth and his face screwed up in confusion. Every move the braided boy did was graceful and smooth, showing that Wufei had done a good job in his teachings--actually, if Duo got any better he would be able to give Heero a run for his money. As the duel progressed, Duo began mumbling to himself under his breath. Heero strained to hear what he was saying. When he finally did hear he almost gave in to his urge to laugh, but settled for a snort. The violet- eyed youth had been reciting the moves as he did them.  
  
At the sound of the snort Duo's eyes shot up to Heero's face. Duo smiled sheepishly and shut up. Duo continued to smile though and he stuck his tongue back out. Heero almost froze at the way too cute picture his partner made, and that was his downfall. During the split second in which Heero had paused Duo attacked with a vicious move that Heero would have been hard pressed to block under normal circumstances and had no chance of stopping in his current condition. So Heero's sword went flying but Duo's sword went flying with it. The braided one had been expecting more resistance from Heero so he had added too much power to the blow, add that to the shock he got when his move actually worked and his sword was toast.  
  
Duo stared dumbly at the swords lying several feet to the right of them, in shock at the fact that he had actually caused Heero Yuy to lose his sword. While Duo stared at the swords, Heero found himself unable to tear his eyes away from his beautiful partner. Duo slowly recovered from his shock and looked away from the swords and into Heero's cobalt-blue eyes, which were fixed firmly on him. Suddenly Duo realized just how close he and Heero were, so close they were almost about to touch. Despite all the closeness all Duo's brain could think up at the moment was, 'Not close enough, never close enough.'  
  
Heero could only stare at the violet eyes hovering only inches away from him. Now that Duo had turned to look at him he too realized just how close they were and was hard pressed to keep himself from grabbing the petite, chestnut-haired, black-wearing, violet-eyed chatter bug and hauling him off to the cottage to ravish him.  
  
The two youths stood like that, only inches apart, for several minutes. Suddenly, as if it was planned, they both moved forward together and gently, carefully, cautiously, chastely kissed. It was a brief contact, but there was so much feeling that they both jumped back in surprise at themselves and each other. Duo stared and Heero blinked, both unsure of what they were supposed to do next and both extremely wary of making a wrong move. Then all of a sudden Duo burst into happy chuckles and threw his arms around Heero, hugging him tightly. Heero followed the beautiful boy's lead and scooped said boy up into his arms as he had on the first night Duo arrived--he had wanted to do it again ever since that first time. Duo sighed contentedly as he felt Heero pick him up, it felt so right. Duo leaned in to kiss his love again and Heero responded instantly, tightening his grip on Duo slightly. This time the kiss lasted much longer and was much more passionate.  
  
Heero broke away reluctantly, pulling his lips away from his beloved. Duo had his eyes closed and seemed totally happy. "Duo," Heero whispered, not wanting to shatter the surreal moment. "What are we doing?" Duo's eyes opened slowly looking deep into Heero's soul.  
  
"I don't know, but I do know that I love you more than anything. I love you," Duo breathed softly. Heero smiled his happiness too great to be completely contained.  
  
"I feel the same towards you Duo," Heero answered, Duo seemed to get even happier, snuggling against Heero's chest and smiling.  
  
"Good, let's go to bed," Duo replied, dragging Heero's face down for another kiss. Even as they kissed Heero began to walk towards the cottage trusting to his body and his memory to guide them there safely.  
  
********  
  
"Wake up you lazy bums!" Shalen exclaimed, kicking at his troop members. The men roused slowly, they had only gotten an hour of sleep. "We're moving out! I want to be in, out, and on the way back before the sun rises!" The men grumbled and growled, completely unhappy with this turn of events. One man decided to speak up.  
  
"We only had an hour of sleep! This is ridiculous! I refuse to move out so soon! I don't care how fast you want to get going we need rest! I for one am not going anywhere," one of the men ground out, the others began mumbling a vague agreement. Shalen marched up to the solider that spoke out and viciously backhanded him.  
  
"You will move out when I say you will move out!" Shalen yelled. "Now, we are moving out, quickly!" The men helped the victim of Shalen's wrath up and they quickly readied their horses and rode out following Shalen, unwilling to get hit themselves.  
  
After several hours of riding, they spotted their goal: the Magaunac settlement. The sun was still a couple hours away from rising. It wasn't the best idea to kidnap someone this close to sunrise, but Shalen was in a rush, he wanted the slave and he wanted him now! Shalen gave the signal for them to move out silently. They left the horses outside the entrance. A few dispatched guards later and they were in the fortress, heading towards Heero's cottage where Shalen figured the slave would be. 


	6. Chapter 11

Duo and the Desert by Travaria  
  
Part 11  
  
'It's a couple of hours until dawn, I should be asleep,' Heero thought, 'Too bad I have no desire to.' Considering that Heero hadn't gotten any sleep yet, he really should have been asleep. But as he gazed down on the beautiful boy snuggled in his arms he felt that sleep was a pointless thing, it would only keep him from gazing at his new lover. Heero tightened his arms about his lover slightly and Duo smiled in his sleep, nuzzling Heero's chest. The dark-haired boy smiled slightly as well, completely happy for the first time that he could remember. He stroked the long fall of chestnut colored silk that was draped over him and Duo, marveling that this beautiful creature could love him, did love him. As he stroked Duo's hair, the sleeping boy arched into the caresses whispering Heero's name, despite the fact that he was still asleep. Heero smirked, shifting Duo so that the violet-eyed beauty was draped over him. The change in position affected Duo enough that he stirred, waking slightly. Violet eyes peeked from in between half-shut eyelids and he yawned.  
  
"You should be asleep, Hee-chan," Duo mumbled as he snuggled against Heero.  
  
"So should you," Heero replied. Duo scrunched his face up, still half- asleep.  
  
"Yeah, but I got some sleep and I don't think you did," Duo retorted, poking at Heero to emphasize his point.  
  
"True," Heero replied.  
  
"Well, I'm not going back to sleep until you do," Duo said stubbornly, sitting up yet remaining perched on his love's chest.  
  
"I'm not going to go to sleep, Duo."  
  
"Well, if we aren't going to sleep then you might as well go get us some breakfast. I'm hungry," Duo answered with a decisive nod. Heero snorted but he was smiling slightly.  
  
"You'll have to get off me before I can do anything," the cobalt-eyed youth reminded the boy settled on his chest and stomach. Duo grinned and slid off Heero.  
  
"Well, go on, go. I'm hungry," Duo playfully ordered. Heero snorted but rolled out of bed anyway. The General quickly and efficiently dressed, much to the amusement of his lover. Once Heero was prepared to go to the kitchen and scrounge up some food he turned and gave Duo a measuring look.  
  
"You'll stay right here, right?"  
  
"Of course Hee-chan," Duo replied with mock-indignation. "I'll wait for you in the main room, 'kay?" Heero nodded and left the room, intent on retrieving breakfast foods. Duo sighed, yawned, and stretched before deciding that he could wait a few more minutes before getting up, and burrowed under the covers.  
  
********  
  
Shalen was leading his troops through the empty city streets. Most of the people in the fortress were asleep, waiting for the dawn before they did anything. The few people who were up were scattered and not very aware of much because of the early hour. The couple of people they did encounter were easily disposed of. Shalen would have gladly killed them, but he knew that that would be grounds for a war, and Lord Treize didn't want a war. The other men were glad that they didn't have to kill the civilians, although they felt no remorse for what they were about to do. Treize's men ghosted through the city, sticking to the shadows, and leaving a sparse trail of hidden unconscious peasants in their wake.  
  
Shalen wasn't entirely sure as to why he was heading towards the General's cottage, but he had a feeling that the slave would be there. The idiot had finally figured out that no one had ever searched there the first time, so the slave must have been there and perhaps still was. Plus, when Shalen had last seen the pathetic slave boy he was in the company of General Yuy, so it was a simple matter to decide that the slave would stay with him. Besides, if the slave wasn't in Heero's cottage, Shalen would have no idea of where to look; not that he would ever tell his men that.  
  
********  
  
Duo stretched once again, deciding that it was past time for him to get up. Which was pretty ironic, considering that it wasn't even dawn yet. Duo smirked at that. 'And I was supposed to be lazy, too,' Duo couldn't help thinking. The braided boy slipped out of the bed and scurried over to the chair where some clothes for him were laying. He quickly pulled on a pair of pants and a shirt; not wanting to be uncovered for very long, the scars had made him shy that way. Duo was ashamed of them, ashamed of what happened, what could have happened. But Heero didn't care, not about the scars, not about what Treize had done to him. Heero loved him and would protect him, forever. Duo smiled, he really was happy here. Duo was just closing the door to the room when he heard a sound by the window. The curious youth went back into the room and headed over to the window to investigate.  
  
********  
  
Heero was mildly irritated. It wasn't that he was particularly unhappy, he was still too pleased with what had happened the previous night to actually be mad. It was just that the kitchen staff was being so unhelpful. They had been surprised to see Heero in the kitchen so early and they didn't have anything ready to give him. So Heero was waiting--not very patiently. The General kept trying to help but just ended up getting in the way and making it take even longer. So Heero was mildly irritated.  
  
By the time the food was done, Heero was very impatient to get back to Duo and the poor harassed kitchen staff was *very* glad that he was leaving. The second they had finished the meal Heero had grabbed it and headed out the door, intent on getting back to his cottage and seeing his violet-eyed lover. Heero walked quickly, unwilling to go faster than a walk but also unwilling to take more time than was necessary for him to return to the cottage. It didn't take long for the cottage to come into view. Heero entered cautiously, expecting to be pounced on by Duo, but nothing happened. The braided one wasn't even in the room. Heero's eyes narrowed suspiciously. 'Duo had better not be playing games again. He probably just fell back asleep,' Heero thought. "Duo," Heero called. "I'm back and I have food." There was no answer. Starting to feel a little worried Heero called out again. "Duo, if you're playing around it's not funny anymore." His only answer was silence. Heero felt slightly panicky, but he managed to control the feeling as he moved to search the rest of the small house. The guestroom was empty, he had expected as much, the only place he really expected to find something was his room, which was why he had checked the guestroom first.  
  
Heero entered the master bedroom. Half of him was expecting to find his lover curled up under the covers, the other half dreaded finding him not there. Heero took a look around and his eyes widened, the room was torn apart. There was broken furniture and torn cloth all over the floor. The window was shattered. Heero's trained eye also picked up several spots of blood spread over the floor. There was no one in the room, though. Heero studied the room again, drawing several conclusions. Someone had broken in, there had been a struggle, it hadn't taken place too long ago, and whoever had done this had Duo. They had entered and exited through the window. Heero lunged out the window, quickly finding the tracks the men and Duo had left. From the scattering of dragged out footprints he could assume that Duo was still conscious at the time they had taken him.  
  
Heero raced along the trail, no thoughts in his head except finding Duo and making whoever had done this pay. The tracks led him through the outskirts of the city, sticking to the shadowed places. The army General ran as fast as he could without losing the tracks. His body was so toned that he could run like that for miles if the need ever arose. The tracks stopped at one of the smaller side entrances to the fortress. The inside and outside guards were piled in a heap. Heero quickly looked them over, luckily they were only unconscious. Heero then barreled out of the side gate. Just outside the gate he found several things: the tracks of about six horses leading away from the fortress, two small splatterings of blood, one by the horse tracks, and the other beneath the unconscious form of Treize's guard Shalen. Heero growled silently, the men on the horses were long gone and they had taken Duo with them. But they had made one big mistake, Heero's mouth twisted into a feral, violent, and malicious grin, they had left him a witness. Heero knew that whatever he did now it would have to be accomplished swiftly and efficiently if he ever wanted to see his lover again. Which meant that basically he and the imbecile needed a ride back to the palace. The cobalt-eyed boy hesitated before mimicking Duo's shrill whistle. He needed a horse and Shinigami was the only horse he could call from this distance. Heero walked over to stand next to the unconscious guard and turned him over so that he was lying on his back. Heero sneered at him, wanting nothing more than to tear him apart, especially since he had a hand in kidnapping Duo! But Heero knew that he needed to question Shalen first, once he learned all he could from Shalen, then he could kill and/or torture him.  
  
The dark mare galloped up, shying away from Shalen. Heero walked over to her, knowing that he might have a hard time convincing her to carry the bleeding guard, but he had to try. Although Heero always felt foolish when he talked to Shini, Duo had assured him that for the most part, the mare understood what he was saying. "Now Shini, I know you hate him" Heero began with a nod towards Shalen, "as much as I do, but I need you to take both of us to the palace as fast as you can. I need your help, for Duo." The mare looked suspicious, but she didn't attempt to leave so Heero figured that she would let him load the unconscious man onto her back.  
  
Heero struggled to pull the much heavier man onto Shinigami. For her part the mare stood silently, fidgeting ever so often, but bearing the weight. Heero growled slightly as he mounted, still blatantly furious about the whole ordeal. How the idiots had gotten into the fortress was beyond him, and the fact that they came just when he had left was such an unfortunate coincidence. Everything was going wrong...and this had started out as such a wonderful day, but now...it really didn't bear much thinking about, just action. Heero spurred Shinigami into a gallop, heading for the palace.  
  
********  
  
Shalen's men rode swiftly into the night, some unknown reason spurring them to ride faster. They had tied the slave up and then tied him onto Shalen's horse; they weren't going to risk him escaping. Fortunately for them, Duo had yet to regain consciousness from when they had knocked him out. They had knocked out Shalen too, none of them wanted to ride with him anymore, and they could just tell Treize that there had been an accident, that they had been forced to leave Shalen behind. Another man from the troop had taken over, his name was Daihen. Daihen was not the best leader, but he was the only one who had stepped up when Shalen was down, so now the rest of them were stuck with him for better or for worse.  
  
Daihen wasn't letting them stop for the night, and he wasn't planning on letting them stop the next day either. The other men didn't care though; they all felt the need to get far away from the Maguanac settlement as possible. They could eat as they rode; they could probably sleep as they rode too, if they took turns leading each other. No doubt the men would discuss riding plans as soon as they stopped the headlong sprint that they were engaged in. By silent agreement the men decided to gallop for as long as the horses could handle it.  
  
Daihen was worried by his new power, if anything went wrong it would automatically be his fault since he was in charge, he didn't want to take that risk. The only reason he had taken control was because as high of a risk factor the position held, it had an every greater chance for glory, honor, and wealth. Daihen wanted those things so badly he would have taken out the entire troop if he had thought it would help, luckily he didn't have to. None of the other men knew of his need for power, he had always acted very calm and down to earth, but deep inside he craved the power and prestige that came with glory and gold. As soon as he had lead his troop back to Treize he would finally have everything his heart desired, and he wasn't going to let anyone or anything stop him.  
  
to be continued.. 


	7. Chapters 12 and 13

Duo and the Desert by Travaria  
  
Part 12  
  
Heero reined Shinigami in at the door to the palace. As soon as the mare had stopped Heero hurled himself off of her, commanding her to stay put and to make sure that Shalen didn't go anywhere. The mare snorted but did as she was told. General Heero Yuy burst into the palace, practically destroying the doors. The nearest guards raced to see what was going on, but relaxed when all they saw was their commander. Heero immediately ordered them to go out and secure his prisoner and the guards quickly scurried to obey him. The cobalt-eyed solider swiftly headed for Quatre's quarters, all the while bellowing for the guards, Trowa, Wufei, and Quatre.  
  
Just as Heero reached the corridor which held Quatre and Trowa's rooms several guards ran up to him. The guards were understandably nervous, it wasn't every day that their commander lost his calm attitude and they couldn't even remember a time in which he had bellowed for them. One guard from the small group was prodded forward by his companions to see what Heero wanted.  
  
"What it is that you need of us, sir?" the guard asked.  
  
"I want you to go down to the stable and saddle up Wing. Take Shinigami with you and prepare her for travel. To be safe you should saddle Nataku and prepare Quatre's and Trowa's horses to be saddled. And one of you go to my cottage and get my sword belt. Quickly," Heero snapped, his voice laced with fury--none of which was directed towards his subordinates--but the fury was enough to send them running to do what he commanded. As the guards hurried to the stables, Wufei came running from his own room on the other side of the palace.  
  
"What is going on, Yuy?!" Wufei demanded, a little angry and a lot worried about what could send Heero running through the halls yelling.  
  
Before Heero could reply, Quatre and Trowa stumbled out of one of the rooms a little ways down the hall. Both of them looked tired, confused, and very bedraggled. It was obvious that they had dressed hastily and that they weren't quite awake. "Heero, what is going on?" Quatre asked, a bit startled by the look of absolute fury and Heero's face. Heero was once again interrupted, this time by a guard. "Sir, we have secured the prisoner as you requested. He is still unconscious and we placed him in the lower interrogation room. There are two men guarding him, and here is your sword belt," the guard informed the cobalt-eyed General. Heero nodded his thanks and strapped on the sword belt. The guard saluted before heading back to his post.  
  
"Prisoner?! Heero, what happened?!" Quatre asked again, more insistently. But Heero didn't reply, he just motioned for them to follow him before taking off heading for the interrogation room. Quatre let out a frustrated groan, Wufei snorted and Trowa just watched--he wasn't nearly awake enough to react to Heero being frustrating yet--but all three followed him.  
  
********  
  
Duo awoke to the sensation of being bounced on his stomach--it hurt like hell. He was not happy at being tied stomach down on a galloping horse, to make matters worse his head was bleeding from when they had knocked him unconscious, he most likely had a concussion. On top of that, the ropes were tied tight; so tight they were cutting off his circulation in several places. Needless to say, Duo was not in a good mood at that point. As a matter of fact, he was about ready to rip someone's head off, preferably one of the idiots who had kidnapped him. Then Duo grinned evilly; man, was Heero going to be mad at them.  
  
'I can't believe that I was caught so easily. I should have been able to get away from just six guys,'' Duo thought unhappily, thinking of his capture. 'At least I hurt a few of them before they could take me down.' **Flashback** Duo headed toward the window after hearing a strange sound, not knowing what to expect, and just as he reached it, the window exploded inwards, spraying glass all over the place. Duo ducked and covered his head, trying to avoid getting sliced by the flying shards of glass. When Duo deemed it safe to look up, he was face to face with six men who had climbed in through the remains of the window. Duo instantly recognized them as Treize's guards; they were lead by Shalen. "Well, well pretty boy, I see we meet again. Did you actually think that you could hide from me?" Shalen sneered as he approached Duo. Duo shuddered slightly in suppressed anger, fear, and resentment. "If you come with us quietly we won't have to hurt you too much. So why don't you just surrender?" Duo snorted and laughed a hollow, mirthless laugh. "Surrender, ha! Do you actually think I would let you take me back into that hell, much less voluntarily?" Duo sneered shifting into a ready stance. "I don't think so! You could never do or say anything to make me go back there! I would rather die here then see that ass Treize ever again!" "Do not speak of Lord Treize in that manner, slave," Shalen growled, enraged that Duo would talk about his Lord in such a way. "Men, secure the prisoner!" Shalen sent his men to do the dangerous work like the coward he was. The men hesitated for a second, but one angry look from their leader got them moving, fast. Duo dodged the first few attempts at attacks, but the bedroom hardly had enough room for him to maneuver in. After one man got to close, Duo stopped playing and got down to business. The next attacker went down with an obviously broken arm. The poor man screamed and fell back; the others paused in their attacks. Then Shalen yelled at them. "Seize the slave, you imbeciles! Seize him or die trying!" Shalen then hit the injured man and ordered him to get back on the attack. The men were shocked for a moment, but then continued the attack. Several other men were injured. A gash here, a broken bone there, but on whole they were still able to attack. Shalen just stood in the back, ordering them forward. The men were aggressive, mostly with fear and anger. Fear of both Duo and their commanding officer. Anger at the injuries that either they had sustained or that their comrades had acquired, and anger at their cowardly commander who lead from the back where he had no chance of injury and sent them forward to their deaths. But Duo wasn't aiming to kill, he just couldn't kill the mindless soldiers, they were only doing what they had been trained to do. Eventually Duo ran out of luck and room. The next thing he knew he was being hauled through the broken window and dragged off. Duo struggled as much as he could, considering that he was now fully recovered and had been training with Wufei, but the guards were stronger, and three or four of them had a grip on him. 'At least I'm still conscious,' Duo thought unhappily as he was dragged through the streets. He would have called out, but by some miracle the guards had been smart enough to gag him. Soon Duo was being dragged through a small gate set in the fortress wall. He could see the guards from both the inside and outside posts piled next to the gate but he couldn't tell if they were alive or not. Once he was completely outside the fortress and the gate had been shut, one of the guards knocked him over the head with some kind of blunt weapon. As Duo slipped into unconsciousness he could have sworn that he saw one of the men attack Shalen, but he figured that he must have been imagining it; why would the men attack their own commander? **End Flashback** Duo sighed; this was really very depressing. If luck was with him then Heero would catch up before they got to Treize, but Duo really didn't think that he had good luck at that point. He had no doubt that Heero would come for him, he just wasn't sure about how long it would take. The braided captive sighed and began messing with his ropes, why wait for Heero if he could get free himself?  
  
********  
  
Heero stalked into the interrogation room, fury could be read in his every movement. Wufei, Quatre and Trowa followed him in; they were walking more normally as they didn't have a clue about what was going on. Once inside they froze at the sight of the unconscious Shalen secured in the chair in the center of the room. They all looked at Heero in confusion and flinched at the look of pure hatred, anger, and violence in his cobalt eyes as he looked at the prisoner. Heero's mouth was twisted into an unnatural sneer and his hand unconsciously fell to the hilt of his sword sheathed at his side. The look in his eyes stated that he would not hesitate to use the blade if he thought it would help. Unfortunately, Shalen showed no sign of movement.  
  
"Heero!" Quatre almost hissed frantically. "What on earth is he doing back here?!" The others echoed his shocked disgust with emphatic nods. "Do you know how much trouble we can get in with Treize if he finds out that we captured one of his men for no apparent reason!? It could start a war, Heero!"  
  
"I didn't start this! He did!" Heero growled low in his throat as he circled the unconscious and restrained man. That froze Quatre mid-rant. Quatre wasn't sure about what he had thought, hoped, and happened, but now it was obvious that Shalen had done something terrible--most likely to his braided cousin.  
  
"Where is Maxwell?!" Wufei demanded, looking around with wild eyes as if he could find Duo hiding in one of the dark corners of the room. "Is he all right?!" Wufei, Trowa, and Quatre looked to Heero for the answer; they were all very worried. Heero took a deep breath; it was a pathetic attempt at calming himself.  
  
"I don't know," Heero's voice hissed quietly and reluctantly, he did not look at his friends. Once again his eyes filled with an unholy light and he looked up at his friends who seemed to be in shock. "That's what Shalen is for."  
  
"Heero," Quatre whispered once he was coherent enough to talk. "Heero, what happened?"  
  
Heero's body tensed with rage once again, the little control he had managed to get a hold of gone. "I don't know what happened!" Heero all but screamed. "I don't know what happened! But that bastard does! And when he wakes up I will get answers from him! Even if I have to take him apart piece by piece with my bare hands! I will get my answers!" Quatre jumped at the strength of Heero's reply; it had never been more apparent to him that Heero was in love with Duo. Heero took another set of deep breaths, releasing some of his tension.  
  
"He's gone then," Wufei said gruffly, he was obviously upset by this news. Heero could only nod. "Well then, we'll have to find out where he is from Shalen."  
  
"I am so glad that you see this my way," Heero replied.  
  
"We should send someone to prepare the horses. Once we find out we won't want to waste anymore time," Wufei added, glaring at the tied up guard.  
  
"Already done, they should have Wing and Nataku saddled up by now," Heero answered.  
  
"What about Trowa and me?" Quatre asked. "We're coming to! Guard, saddle Sandrock and Heavyarms!" The guard Quatre snapped at bowed and quickly left to do as his Lord had asked.  
  
"Good thing I took the precaution of having them prepared," Heero muttered, wry humor showing through now that he had his friends to calm him down. "Now to deal with Shalen." Heero took a knife out from somewhere; none of them had noticed it before he had pulled it out. "I'm sure he shall awaken soon, with sufficient encouragement, of course." The evil smile was back on Heero's face as he casually gripped the knife and approached his prisoner. "It's time to get up now," Heero growled. The General calmly took the knife and ran the blade against Shalen's naked arm, not quite slicing the skin. There was no reaction. Heero snarled and ran the blade against the arm, this time cutting nearly to the bone. Before he had reached more than half way down Shalen's upper-arm the captive guard was awake, and screaming. "Good morning Shalen," Heero said unpleasantly. "How are you doing today?"  
  
"What's going on?" Shalen cried out in shock and pain. 'Where are my men? Did they leave me to die?!' Shalen thought angrily.  
  
"I believe that you have some answers for me, and we aren't leaving here until you give them," Heero snarled, leaning in close to Shalen so that the guard could fully understand just what was going on. "And trust me, I will find out, even if I have to remove every patch of skin from your worthless hide." Shalen whimpered.  
  
  
  
Duo and the Desert by Travaria  
  
Part 13  
  
Duo grumbled softly to himself. The former thief was not pleased. 'What is wrong with these idiots? They haven't even slowed down! Aren't they even going to stop to sleep?' Duo mentally complained. Duo was so sore he could hardly move, so he didn't know what their stopping would do except for making the horrid up and down movement that was bruising his stomach stop. The braided youth could only barely feel several of his limbs, and what little feeling he had was quickly deserting him. The wound on the back of his head had stopped bleeding, but his neck, back, hair, and face were splashed with itchy dried blood, and his head still felt very sore. He couldn't see anything except for the horse's feet that he was tied on and the sand, since he was riding stomach down. He couldn't get free of the ropes because he couldn't really feel his fingers and he hadn't had anything to eat for absolutely ages and the sun was up and frying his back. In other words, our braided protagonist was pissed.  
  
"Alright men, I think it is best if we slow to a walk," Daihen announced, easing his exhausted animal into a walk. The other men quickly followed suit, slowing their own beasts as well as their prisoner's. The horses looked about ready to collapse; the men didn't look much better.  
  
"Finally," Duo complained, showing that he was awake for the first time. "I thought you would never stop galloping. Remind me to ride upright next time!"  
  
"It seems that the prisoner is awake, Daihen," one of the men said after a short period of shocked silence.  
  
"No duh, I wonder what tipped you off," Duo mocked. He had opted for the 'if you can't beat them, annoy them' approach to his imprisonment. Unfortunately, the guards knew exactly what was going on. They had, after all, been his guards the last time they had captured him.  
  
"Someone gag him, please," Daihen ground out from between clenched teeth.  
  
"Now that is hardly fair!" Duo began, indignantly. "I have hardly said anything despite the fact that I have been up for ages! And what I have said wasn't even very insulting. Besides, in order to gag me you'd have to at least get me off the horse." Daihen cursed under his breath.  
  
"Fine, just leave him, we'll worry about it later," Daihen said, his voice heavy with annoyance.  
  
"So glad you see it my way, I always knew that under all that trained stupidity there had to be some tiny glimmer of actual intelligence. I hate being wrong."  
  
Daihen's eye twitched.  
  
********  
  
"So Shalen, are you ready to talk?" Heero growled, his fingers playing over the knife's blade. Shalen's eyes were wide and full of fear, but he said nothing. If he said anything, Lord Treize would be mad at him. Shalen shut his eyes and tensed, preparing for the bite of the knife.  
  
"Going to play the martyr, then?" Heero continued. Shalen flinched back from his voice. Heero placed the blade under Shalen's chin, forcing him to look upwards, Shalen's eyes flew open and he stared fearfully at Heero. "May I make a suggestion? Treize may not be pleased if you tell me what happened--but he's not here. I am. I suggest you tell me what I want to know. There are more painful things than death."  
  
Shalen remained silent although all of them could see that he was trembling. Quatre considered putting a stop to what Heero was doing, but there were two things stopping him: one, the life of his cousin could be hanging in the balance, and two, he really didn't think he would be able to stop Heero at this point. Besides, this was the most likely way for them to get any information, so he had no choice but to go with it. Knowing what Heero was going to do to this man, even if he had hurt Duo, made Quatre slightly uncomfortable. Quatre had seen his General work before, and it was never pretty.  
  
"Still not talking? Pity." Heero carefully removed the knife from Shalen's chin and moved it down towards the guard's knee-high boot. The knife cut easily through the thick leather, leaving Shalen's leg bare from ankle to knee. Heero dug the knife slightly into the flesh just below Shalen's knee. "Is Duo alive?" Heero questioned, slicing through the skin. Shalen continued to tremble, but he didn't make a sound. Heero pulled the knife down Shalen's leg, cutting beneath the skin, but only grazing the muscle. Heero quickly reached Shalen's ankle and jerked the blade upwards, removing all of the skin from Shalen's shin. Heero delicately lifted the bloody flesh into Shalen's sight. Quatre felt nauseous and quickly left the room, Trowa followed to take care of his little lover. "I'll ask you again Shalen. Is Duo alive?"  
  
"Yes," Shalen whispered, pain and defeat preventing him from talking any louder.  
  
"Good. Where is he?" Heero asked coldly, still dangling the skin in Shalen's face.  
  
"It's impossible to say," Shalen whimpered. Instantly the knife was back on his arm, extending the gash Heero had first created.  
  
"Wrong. Where is he, and where is he heading?"  
  
"They should be travelling southeast. They are planning on meeting up with the rest of the troops, who are heading for Lord Marquise's lands," Shalen gasped out.  
  
"I should have known," Heero growled. "Well, you have far outlived your usefulness," Heero scowled.  
  
"You are lucky that I am in such a hurry. If I had more time, I would make sure that you died as slowly and painfully as possible." Shalen cringed. "As it is, I shall dispose of you quickly." Shalen's eyes widened in shock and fear as Heero casually reached over and snapped his neck like it was a twig. "Guard, get rid of the remains," Heero snapped, wiping his hands off on a nearby towel. Once his hands were free of blood Heero swiftly headed out of the room, leaving the guard to deal with the body. Wufei followed him out.  
  
They met Quatre and Trowa at the bottom of the stairs that lead up to the palace doors. They had a saddled Wing and Nataku, along with their own saddled mounts, Sandrock and Heavyarms. Shinigami wasn't saddled, but she was ready for travel. It seemed that either Trowa or Quatre had thought ahead and had acquired some supplies that they could use on their journey. The supplies were already fastened onto the horses. Everything was ready for them to leave.  
  
"Well?" Quatre asked.  
  
"We are heading towards the Marquise's lands, by way of the desert. If we are lucky we shall meet up with the rest of Treize's men before they reach Lord Marquise's home," Heero ground out. There was no need to mention what had become of Shalen, Quatre and Trowa were sure to have figured it out already.  
  
"We should head out at once. I can only hope that we do catch them before anything else damaging happens to Duo," Quatre replied sadly. Heero nodded curtly and they all mounted up. The four men rode swiftly across the desert sands, heedless of the sun that was just rising over the horizon.  
  
********  
  
"523 bottles of beer on the wall, 523 bottles of beer, take one down and pass it around, 522 bottles of beer on the wall," Duo sang in a horribly off-key voice.  
  
"Will somebody please SHUT HIM UP!" one of the guards finally yelled.  
  
"What? You don't like my rendition of 1,000 bottles of beer on the wall?" Duo asked innocently. "'Cause you know, I have 522 more verses to go through, and I hate to be interrupted. Actually, now that I've stopped I'll have to start the whole song over. 1,000 bottles of beer on the wall, 1,000 bottles of be~er! Take one down and pass it around, 999 bottles of beer on the wall!" Several of the guards' eyes twitched.  
  
"Can I please just knock him out?! I won't even kill him! Just shut him up!" the same guard begged Daihen with an unhealthy amount of maniacal enthusiasm and annoyance.  
  
"If you don't like that song you just have to tell me and I'll stop," Duo said, sniffing at the insult.  
  
"Fine," the guard ground out. "I don't like that song."  
  
"Alright then, I won't sing it anymore," Duo replied soothingly. "I'll just have to sing something else. This is the song that never ends! Yes, it goes on and on my friends!" The guard drew his sword and headed at the braided boy with a demented light in his eyes. Daihen immediately stopped him.  
  
"You can't kill him. We have to bring him to Lord Treize." The guard slumped in defeat and rode as far away from Duo as he could get.  
  
to be continued. 


	8. Chapter 14

Ummmm I'm sorry that it took me so long to get this part out, I've been horribly busy, distracted, sleepy, sick and full of writer's block, soooooooooo yea...ummm I also apologize for the *coff* shortness of this part..  
  
Duo and the Desert by Travaria  
  
Part 14  
  
Three weeks had past and they had yet to catch Duo's kidnappers. At this rate they would reach Marquise's lands before they spotted Treize's forces. The kidnappers were moving very fast, they hardly even stopped at night to sleep or during the day to eat, but then again neither did Heero, Wufei, Quatre and Trowa. Heero had been acting like one possessed, setting an almost impossible pace, hardly sleeping and barely eating, driven by a deep- seated anger and a tint of fear. Quatre was really starting to worry about his general. He confessed his troubled thoughts to Trowa who had only given him this simple piece of advice. "It is Heero's nature to be so intent on something that he loses sight of everything else, but know this, he would never do anything that would endanger himself to the point that he would be unable to perform his duties. There is no need to worry about him. You need only to worry about Treize when Heero finally catches up to him". Those words hardly made Quatre feel better, but he did realize that he wasn't doing anyone any good by badgering Heero. Another source of worry was Wufei. The stubborn Chinese warrior was taking care of himself just fine, but every spare minute he could be seen polishing his sword or practicing his katas. It was starting to disturb Trowa and Quatre to see the almost fanatical look in his eyes every time they found proof of their prey's passing.  
  
"Trowa," Quatre whispered one night after they had finally stopped for rest.  
  
"What is it, Quatre?" Trowa asked.  
  
"Do you ever get the feeling that we're the only two sane people here?" Quatre asked, looking over at their companions. Trowa glanced at them as well and saw that now both Heero and Wufei were sharpening their swords and their eyes never stopped examining the land around them, searching for who knows what.  
  
"I'm afraid so, love. I'm afraid so."  
  
********  
  
Duo was not pleased. He recognized where he was, they had almost reached his former home. The small troop he was with had not merged with the rest of Treize's army as was planned, Treize had traveled to fast and was already at the property that used to belong to Duo. They were meeting up with Treize when they reached the former Maxwell estate. Duo had reached the point where he was almost glad the soldiers had gagged him after the singing incident. He just didn't think he'd be able to keep up the annoying banter this close to his old home, and the man who ordered his capture, the man who sought to own him. Duo knew for certain that Heero was coming after him, that wasn't what had him worried. What had him worried was thinking of what Treize and Zechs could do to him before Heero saved him, or what would happen if Heero were captured.  
  
Intellectually, Duo knew that Treize and Zechs really couldn't do anything to Heero without the risk of starting a long, drawn out war. Heero was, after all, Quatre's general. A lot of the other Lords favored Quatre, either because they were somehow related to him (through marriage or other means), or just because they liked the charismatic young leader of Magaunac. A war with Quatre could possibly destroy one or both of their holdings, leaving them with no land, at the very least it would exhaust their resources. Treize and Zechs were to selfish to risk starting a war. Unfortunately though, Duo's more emotional side was supplying him with image after image of what Treize could do to his beloved. Not for the first time Duo wished that he was really his adoptive parents child, if he had been then kidnapping him could start a war too, so Treize wouldn't have bothered with it. Duo sighed internally, wishes wouldn't help the situation any, and they would only depress him further. It would be better to just not think about it.  
  
********  
  
"Well, Treize, when are your men going to be getting here with the Maxwell boy?" Zechs asked, impatient as ever.  
  
"A day, perhaps two. They have been travelling at top speed. It is possible that Yuy is following them, but I doubt it. Why would General Yuy have any interest in a slave?" Treize replied haughtily.  
  
"True. Hopefully you are correct in believing that he isn't coming. Even without the backing of Winner, Yuy could be quite a nuisance if he wanted to."  
  
"You are correct. But if for some reason Yuy is following then we will simply have to hide Duo until Heero can be convinced that the longhaired brat isn't here. There are plenty of hidden rooms in the old place, we should be more than able to conceal the brat for as long as is necessary," Treize said calmly. Clearly, he thought there was nothing to worry about.  
  
"Good. Duo must be silenced one way or another. Even if he doesn't have any noble blood, he still has a pretty strong argument against me. Especially if he has managed to get Winner on his side," Zechs added, much more nervous than Treize was.  
  
"There is no reason to worry, my friend. Trust me. I have everything under control, nothing can go wrong. One slave boy isn't worth starting a war over; Quatre knows this so he wouldn't dare do anything to jeopardize our treaty. Everything is fine and will continue to be so. You will acquire the land that you have desired, with no threat of having it taken away. And I will acquire Duo, exactly what I have desired," Treize reassured his friend. Zechs grinned at the prospect.  
  
"And you will always be welcome in my home, if only to rub the fact that I own it into the brat's face. You are right Treize, nothing can go wrong, you plan too well for that. Come, let us attend dinner, it's getting late, and our watching won't bring the soldiers here any faster."  
  
********  
  
Heero roused his companions a little while before dawn, the time they left every morning. Within moments, all four of them were on their horses and ready to leave. They would eat later, while they rode. Heero was silent, it was a usual occurrence, but to day it had an ominous feel to it. The atmosphere that Heero was carrying around himself was making Quatre feel very uncomfortable. The others shifted slightly on their mounts, revealing that Heero's silence was getting to them too, for some reason. Only the other two weren't going to say anything. They were just going to sit there and be uncomfortable for as long as the feeling lasted. At times like this Quatre really regretted making friends with such silent people, and he really, really missed Duo. Finally Quatre just couldn't take the whole stressful situation any longer. "Heero, is there something wrong?"  
  
"In three or four days we will reach the former Maxwell lands. They are obviously heading there, not to Zechs's rightful lands, his holdings are farther towards the south," Heero stated in a controlled monotone that still managed to contain a sense of foreboding.  
  
"Is there anything else, General?" Quatre asked.  
  
"They will reach their destination in one or two days. Depending on the speed at which they travel and the speed at which we travel Duo could be in the hands of Khushrenada for one to three days. I don't understand how we lagged so far behind," Heero's tone was still level, bet it also carried a deep-seated rage, it was hard to tell who he was angrier at, himself for falling behind, or the guards for getting ahead.  
  
"Well then, we simply must pick up the pace. We'll make sure that our travel time is reduced as much as possible," Quatre replied. "We will get Duo back, and soon! But until we can, I'm sure we all know that he is capable of taking care of himself! When we find him he will probably spout off some teasing remark about how long it took us to reach him and what a smashing good time he had on his trip! So, let's get moving!" 


	9. Chapter 15

Duo and the Desert by Travaria  
  
Part 15  
  
They had arrived. Duo could see his former home from his position on his horse. They would be at the gate in a matter of minutes. Then he would be in Treize's hands once again; Heero hadn't come to save him yet. Unfortunately, Duo's mind produced plenty of things that could happen to him before Heero got a chance to come to his rescue. He was very, *very* unhappy right about then. The truth was he was torn between being scared out of his mind and being angry enough to explode. Duo decided to go with a bit of middle ground, almost all of his fear and a bit of anger was shoved to side as he prepared for his upcoming ordeal. Most of the anger was kept, it would be useful to him, but too much would make him foolish, the fear he kept lent him caution. They were at the gates of the estate; the guards were waving them in, that meant they were expected, which meant that Treize would be waiting for him. The braided boy suppressed the shudders that threatened to rake his small frame. He would *not* allow Treize to see his fear.  
  
Treize smiled evilly as his troops rode up to where he and Zechs were waiting; he could see his prize tied and gagged on one of the horses. It wouldn't be long until he finally got a hold of Duo for the last time-- there was no way he was going to lose the boy again! He would have the guards take Duo into the dungeon while he talked with the soldiers that had just returned, their commander was missing and he needed to find out why, even if he would prefer to spend his time 'entertaining' Duo. He would do whatever it took to keep his prize; he was taking no more chances. Duo was going to be sent to the most secure dungeon in the entire estate, and the blacksmith had *very* specific guidelines for the slender youth's shackles. Not even the tricky little thief would be able to find a way out of this prison. The troop pulled up right in front of him and Zechs and bowed low on their horses.  
  
"Sir," Daihen began, "We have captured the prisoner, as you ordered." Daihen gestured to Duo. "Unfortunately, our commander was lost in our escape."  
  
"Yes, I can see that. We will have to discuss this immediately. Hand the prisoner over to the guards and then meet me in the council room," Treize ordered before he and Zechs left the entryway.  
  
********  
  
Heero stared straight ahead as they rode, he knew their was no need to look to the sides, his friends would cover that. He had never been so frustrated in his entire life; it would take them another whole day of hard riding to reach the estate that had formerly belonged to the Maxwells. By the look of his quarries' tracks they had already reached the estate, his Duo was once again in the hands of the madman that had hurt him, or rather, madmen. Both Zechs and Treize deserved to die for their crimes toward his braided love, but he doubted that Quatre would let him seek his revenge. However, Heero would find some way to see that they paid. If he couldn't take his revenge out of their hides he would find some other means of torture, that was for sure.  
  
Quatre glanced nervously at his general; Heero was being too silent and too still. Now anyone who knew Heero knew that he was a very silent, very still person; however, anyone who truly knew Heero would be able to see when he was too quiet and too unmoving. Right now, Heero was being both those things, he hadn't so much as grunted in the last five hours, and he had even stopped scanning the horizon. This did not bode well, especially for Treize and Zechs. Heero's eyes were practically glazed over; Quatre could almost see the thoughts of revenge that were no doubt running rampart through his head. This really was really bad for Treize and Zechs, but some how Quatre couldn't make himself feel sorry for them, they had done horrible things to his beloved cousin and most likely to others, and they undoubtedly deserved whatever they got.  
  
********  
  
Duo glanced at the two giant guards that were holding his arms, in *very* firm grips, as they dragged him down the hallway. They were to be his very own personal guards. Duo didn't think that he had ever seen anyone as large as the two of them were. It was severely depressing. The chances of him actually escaping on his own from the two Herculean guards were down to nil. They were huge and strong, and surprisingly fast, he was small, half- starved, and unsurprisingly tied with what seemed like miles of rope, he could hardly walk, much less make a break for it. The hall they were dragging him through was silent except for the sounds of their feet hitting the polished marble floor. The guards just weren't talking, and someone had had the sense to leave Duo gagged in order to prevent his chatter. So not only could Duo not move, but he couldn't even attempt to speak either, he *really* hated being captive.  
  
Duo studied the hall around him, he wasn't sure where they were taking him, the estate's dungeons and secret dungeons were both in the complete opposite direction, they were no where near where they were heading. Wherever they were taking him, he was positive that it wasn't going to be a good place for him to be. Duo really wished that *someone*, *anyone* would say *something*, *anything*, the silence was getting to him. The silence was really, really getting to him. He understood about being silent when it was necessary, but it wasn't necessary, it was just quiet. There was no one talking like anywhere. What did they do, order everyone out of the hallways so that they could make his trip more ominous? It was really starting to freak him out. Duo concentrated on breathing slowly, it was a thinly veiled attempt at calming himself, if the guards noticed, they didn't react.  
  
The braided prisoner became aware of a sound bouncing back through the silent hallway. He identified it as the sound of metal striking metal. The metallic sounds were far to regular and rhythmic for any type of sword practice, so he figured they were heading towards the blacksmith. Duo wasn't positive as to exactly why they were heading there, but it was reasonably easy to guess. Undoubtedly Treize had some pretty impressive chains and shackles planned out for him, especially after his last escape. Treize was already on edge, Duo knew that he wouldn't be taking any chances this time around. It looked like round two was going to Treize, but hopefully Heero would even up the score in round three.  
  
********  
  
"Now, men, I want to hear exactly why your leader isn't here, and let me remind you that I am by no means a patient man when it comes to avoiding answers and lying," Treize cautioned the men as they seated themselves in the council room. The men mumbled briefly between themselves before shoving Daihen forward to explain.  
  
"Sir," Daihen began, bowing low. "We had reason to believe that Shalen was a danger to our mission of bringing your prize home."  
  
"You *had* reason. Have those reasons changed?" Treize asked coolly.  
  
"Of course not Lord Treize," Daihen blurted out. "I was merely using past tense since we had eliminated the threat." Daihen shifted slightly, he was nervous.  
  
"You seem tense, Daihen. Is there a reason for that?" Treize questioned. 'I will get to the bottom of this.'  
  
"I'm fine, Lord Treize. I have just been on my guard for far too long to completely relax," Daihen stuttered slightly.  
  
"I see," Treize replied, one eyebrow arching, seemingly of its own accord. 'He's lying to me.' "If I may, why did you suspect Shalen was a danger to your expedition?"  
  
"Well, you see," Daihen began, stuttering slightly.  
  
"Do not stall, just answer."  
  
"He was leading us recklessly on our way there. He made us enter only an hour or two before dawn. He did not assist in the capture, he only watched. He was risking us all, my liege," Daihen replied swiftly, not wasting time for breath.  
  
"And for that you executed him?" Treize asked. Daihen couldn't read his voice, it was carefully neutral.  
  
"I believed that it was enough of a problem that he couldn't be allowed to continue on as our leader, and he refused to step down and attempted to take control again. It seemed to be our only option," Daihen said, as calmly as he could manage under the circumstances. The rest of the troop nodded their agreement. It didn't matter if that was the exact truth, so long as they weren't executed for it.  
  
"And you killed him, correct?" Treize questioned lazily.  
  
'What do I do?!' thought Daihen. 'If I tell him that Shalen is dead and he returns I could be executed! But if I tell him I didn't kill him.what then?' "Well, sir. We didn't kill him precisely. We had no desire to actually kill a member of our own guard, so we knocked him unconscious and deserted him in the desert. There is little chance that he will ever be able to return," Daihen answered, struggling to hold onto his composer.  
  
"You did what?" Treize growled out softly, fury lacing his words.  
  
"I, um, well, we," Daihen stuttered unable to complete his thoughts with that look on him. Daihen's knees shook.  
  
"Do you even realize the error you have committed!? If anyone from Magaunac finds him--! Especially if he's still alive! They know he is one of my soldiers! You fool! You quite possibly could have just started a war between us and Magaunac! I should have you killed," Treize yelled, any semblance of calm long gone. "However, if we are at war I shall need all the soldiers I can get, so you are merely demoted to the beginning. Your rank is no higher than a new recruit's! The same goes for the rest of you as well! Now get out of my sight before I change my mind!!" The soldiers saluted swiftly before fleeing the room in terror. 


	10. Chapter 16

First off I would like to apologize for the long wait..school and stuff has kept me really really really really *really* busy.I was going to do this chapter over Thanksgiving break, but we went out of town and I had no time..so here it is the long awaited chapter 16...hopefully there will be another chapter soon.  
  
Duo and the Desert by Travaria  
  
Part 16  
  
The blacksmith approached Duo and his guards slowly; he was almost as large as said guards were, almost. The smith had what appeared to be shackles made out of a silvery metal in his hands. Duo studied the shackles intently, they confused him, and he couldn't find any type of locking mechanism anywhere on them. They appeared to be simple bands of that silvery metal that had thick steel rings welded onto them (to connect the chains to). What was going on?  
  
"This is the boy?" the smith asked gruffly. Duo didn't recognize him, he must have been one of Zechs's, a good thing to, Duo would hate to think that his own people would do things like this to him. Duo's guards nodded in reply to the smith's question. Duo began to wonder if they were mute or something, they hadn't made any noise yet. The smith led them all to his workshop.  
  
Once the smith had Duo and his guards inside his shop he instructed the guards to release Duo's arms so that he could apply the shackles. The guards carefully untied only his arms, so that the smith had the access he needed, but also so that Duo had as little ability to escape as possible. The smith grabbed Duo's right arm and pulled it closer to the fire, the guard on the left held Duo's other arm firmly in his giant hand. The smith then bent one of the strips of metal until it wrapped around Duo's wrist, the metal band was loose enough to allow his writs some growing room, but also tight enough that he wouldn't be able to slip it off. However, the two ends of the band still weren't connected, and they didn't seem to have any way to be connected. Then, in a flash of dreadful understanding Duo realized just how they were going to connect the two ends. His realization was soon followed by the action as the smith began to weld the two ends together. It burned, a lot, Duo felt as if his entire arm was on fire, not just a line on his wrist. The pain only increased, Duo forced himself to look away from his wrist as a pained scream tore from his throat. By the time Duo first shackle was completed he was soaked with sweat and trembling, his throat was hoarse from his screams. He was exhausted, and they still had the other shackle to do. The smith grabbed Duo's other are, and began the process again. Duo passed out before he could even begin.  
  
When Duo woke up he was in a small cell. It was dark and damp and cold. For the first several minutes, all he could feel was the pain of his wrists. Once he had managed to push the pain out of his mind, he got a good look at his new position. He had been placed in a tiny cell, there was barely enough room for him to lie down. There was no windows, or bars. The only source of air was a tiny grating near the floor; the placement and size of the grating lead him to a conclusion that he was in a hidden cell. Someone had laid him on a pitiful pile of blankets on the floor, they wouldn't do much against the cold, but it would be better than nothing. Duo tried to stand up to drag the blankets out from under him; however, he couldn't stand all the way up. They had connected a short chain from the floor to his wrists; it was too short for him to even stand upright. He had absolutely no means with which to escape. His only hope was that Heero would come and be able to find him.  
  
********  
  
"Well Treize, I believe that you handled those foolish soldiers rather well," Zechs complimented Treize airily.  
  
"We can only hope that no one at Magaunac was able to find Shalen," Treize growled, he was still very upset about his soldiers' mistake.  
  
"Why should they care if Shalen was there and the little Maxwell boy wasn't. It should have nothing to do with them," Zechs replied.  
  
"True, it *shouldn't*, but the Winner boy is extremely stubborn and if he was hiding little Duo once, whose to say he won't come looking for him too. Oh well, I suppose there is no use in worrying, if they do show up here they will have no reason to be in your estate, and even if they get in here, Duo is hidden well enough that they wouldn't be able to find him," Treize added.  
  
"Exactly. Now, why don't we go see about dinner," Zechs said, ending the conversation in favor of his stomach.  
  
********  
  
"There it is Heero, we still have to get through the lower city, but we're almost there," Quatre informed his general. Heero nodded and spurred his horse into a slow trot, he would have gone faster, but even in the dwindling daylight the streets were far too crowded to move as fast as Heero wanted to move.  
  
Heero could hardly believe that their journey was almost over, it had seemed like it would last forever. It had seemed like he would never see his beautiful Duo again. But, he would see Duo again, and soon too. They were almost there. Treize would pay for taking his beloved koi away so soon after he had found love in the fiery boy. Oh yes, Treize would most definitely pay. Heero watched as Duo's former home and his current prison drew closer and closer, they were almost there.  
  
"Umm, Heero. I know that you aren't going to like this, but we're going to have to stop," Quatre informed Heero cautiously. Heero turned towards him and shot him a deadly glare. Trowa quickly moved in between the two of them, just in case Heero got a little out of control. Wufei moved up to Heero's other side.  
  
"He's right you know, Heero," Wufei began. Instantly the glare was focused on the Chinese youth, however Wufei ignored it and continued speaking. "As much fun as it would be to storm into the estate, capture Treize and Zechs, and demand that they return Duo to us, we would probably be caught and lose any hope of retrieving Duo. We need to stop and get some sort of plan together." Heero continued glaring, but he did recognize the sense in this idea, so he gave Wufei a slight nod and turned his horse towards a near by inn/tavern, the other three followed him.  
  
"We'll plan in here. We might as well get a good meal while we plan, we could use one," Heero explained to the others while he vaulted off of Wing and secured the stallion to a post. The others followed suit. In no time at all their five horses were secured and the four of them were entering the comfortable looking tavern, the sun set just as they entered. Once inside, they immediately headed towards a shadowed booth in the back of the tavern. One of the many servers attempted to stop them and lead them to a different table, but one glare from Heero convinced her to leave them be. They arranged themselves in the booth, Wufei and Heero on one side, Quatre and Trowa on the other, and they waited for a server to come to them. With in a few short minutes a man came to take their orders, Quatre recognized him instantly.  
  
"Dairenis? Is that you?" Quatre asked in shock.  
  
"Master Quatre?! What are you doing here?" Dairenis answered with his own question.  
  
"I knew it was you! But what are you doing here? Wait never mind, that's a stupid question," Quatre babbled.  
  
"Master Quatre if you are here to see Master Duo I'm afraid you are too late, Lord Marquise took over his lands weeks ago," Dairenis informed them regretfully.  
  
"On the contrary, Dairenis, we are here just in time to see Duo," Quatre replied. Dairenis was clearly confused, so Quatre quickly related the whole story to him. "You see, Duo came looking for me, but was captured by Treize, but he managed to escape and was lucky enough to be found by my general, Heero," Quatre began, gesturing at Heero.  
  
"However, Treize sent his men looking for Duo, we thought that we had tricked them into thinking he wasn't within my settlement, but we were wrong, and soon the men returned secretly and kidnapped him. We've been following them ever since, and we've determined that Duo, Zechs, and Treize are all in Duo's former estate. The only problem is that we need some sort of plan in order to get him out since Treize has undoubtedly hidden him and that place is filled with hidden passages, rooms, and cells." Dairenis was alarmed by his former employer's capture, but he was also relieved that Duo would be rescued and kept safe.  
  
"Quatre, we don't have time for this," Heero snapped, clearly impatient to get going.  
  
"I'm afraid Heero's right, we really don't have time to talk to you Dairenis, we need to plan our next course of action," Quatre said apologetically.  
  
"Why don't I get you some food, and then perhaps I could help you plan? I don't know how useful I would be, but I would really like to be able to help," Dairenis replied.  
  
"That sounds like a great idea," Quatre answered with a smile. Dairenis nodded and quickly went to get them food.  
  
********  
  
Duo sat in his cell. Truthfully there really wasn't much else he *could* do. The poor braided boy almost hoped that Treize would just do something already, at least the wait would have been over then. But then again, the last thing he wanted was for Treize to do something to him, maybe the wait wasn't that bad after all. Then Duo's stomach decided that it was about time it reminded him that he hadn't had a single thing to eat since he had been captured. They had, of course, given him plenty of water so that he wouldn't, oh say *die* on the way to Treize, but they had completely neglected to feed him. Duo curled even tighter around himself, he was cold and he *hurt*. He just wanted Heero to come and save him. He just wanted to go back home and be with his beloved. That was all he wanted all he needed. He just had to hold on until Heero came to save him. He would be here soon.  
  
********  
  
They were leaving the tavern. With Dairenis's help they had formulated a good plan. It wasn't perfect, but if it didn't work then there was always plan B. Plan B consisting mainly of Heero killing the worthless bastards and ordering the guards to bring him to Duo. Heero quickly mounted Wing and looked up at the sky. 'Soon Duo. Soon you will be free, I promise you that,' Heero swore to the stars. He would not fail his love; he could not fail his love. Duo *would* be free. 


	11. Chapter 17

You know, I've had this chapter done for, well, years. I can't even fathom why I haven't posted it here until now. I had it posted elsewhere. There's just no logical reason. My past mind was truly baffling.

DUO AND THE DESERT Chapter 17

"Can you believe it, we're on guard duty, guard duty! We are the elite soldiers of Lord Treize, we have been trained since our youth to serve as an elite guard, a force to be reckoned with, and we are on guard duty," growled Tenaka, one of the guards from Shalen's troop.

"If you recall we are no longer elite. We're lucky that we're at least trusted as guards. We're lucky that we didn't get hanged because of Daihen and the little Maxwell boy," Shin snapped in reply.

"That's the truth. We never should have let that idiot take command of the troop," Tenaka grumbled. "But the real cause of all our suffering is that little underbred Maxwell brat. I don't see what possessed Lord Treize to put his elite guard in charge of that worthless thieving street trash child!"

"I wouldn't talk like that if I were you, should Lord Treize hear of it you really would be killed. You know he has grown attached to that boy. If he hears you questioning his orders, and speaking ill of his new toy, he will not go easy on you. He is in quite a temper over what we have done already," responded Shin calmly, he had never had much of a temper, he was a cool headed thinker, unlike his companion.

Someone pounding harshly at the gate drowned out Tenaka's attempt at a reply. The two guards glanced at each other. "Who'd be knocking at this time of night!" Tenaka hissed to his companion. Shin shrugged and motioned for them to look over the wall. The two guards cautiously peered over the wall and surveyed the knockers. In the fading light all they could make out was four figures waiting impatiently by the gate. Shin sighed in relief, the other guards had informed him that frequently angry peasants would come, knock on the gate, and then throw what ever they had at the guards. While this wasn't exactly dangerous he really didn't feel like dealing with a peasant mob. Shin straightened and pulled Tenaka up with him.

"Visitors, identify yourselves," Shin commanded. The pounding stopped at once as all four of the figures looked up at the guards.

"My name is Trowa Barton," began one of the figures. "I am the chief advisor to Lord Winner of Magaunac. My lord and our small company request an audience with the Lords Merquise and Kushrenada, immediately if possible." Tenaka and Shin stared at each other their eyes wide in disbelief; they were in real trouble now.

"What are we going to do, we can't let them in, if Lord Treize finds out that they followed us here he really will have us killed," Tenaka spat out, he was trembling and on the verge of going into hysterics. "What should we do? How can we get them to go away? Do you think if we just ignore them…?"

"Don't be stupid Tenaka, if we don't let them in we'll be in even more trouble because then they will know that Lord Treize and Lord Zechs are hiding something from them. We have to let them in. Look, I'll open the gate, you go inform Lord Treize that they are here and see what he wants us to do," Shin ordered. Tenaka nodded and rushed off, not sure if he should be glad that he didn't have to face the Lord of the settlement that they had violated, or terrified that he had to tell his lord that the leader of Magaunac had followed them. Shin watched him disappear down the corridor before calmly descending the stairs to the gate.

Heero glared murderously at the gate waiting for it to open, it shouldn't take this long for the two obviously stupid guards to open a simple gate. A low growl escaped Heero's throat, he was so close, so close, and soon it would all be over. One way or another, he would get Duo back, no matter what he had to do, or who he had to do it to. Kushrenada was a dead man walking; he was most definitely going to pay, especially if his stupid guards didn't open the gate and soon, what could be taking them so long. If they were forced to wait any longer Quatre would have enough reason to contend with Merquise. Causing contention would be a truly foolish move for someone in Zechs' position, taking over another's land without permission from the associated Lords was a very tricky business, and the disapproval of even one noble could destroy him.

Just then the gate swung open to reveal a pale faced guard. "I apologize for the wait my lord," Shin quickly said. "Things have been a bit hectic as of late if you would follow me into the entrance hall."

"Lead the way," Quatre said coldly. The guard flinched slightly at the tone but still hurried to lead them in. The guard stopped them in a modestly decorated entrance hall that was still hung with Maxwell banners. For some reason the banners stirred up an unnatural anger in the group, it was another sign of how much had been stolen from their little Duo. The guard sensed their shortened tempers and kept a good distance from them, worried about what their anger might do to him. "Well?" Quatre began icily, "Where are Lords Zechs and Treize? I have very little patience left for them." Shin gulped and began to stutter out an answer when Tenaka burst into the room.

"M'lord, Lords Merquise and Kushrenada will see you in the main library," Tenaka quickly stated. "If you will follow me?"

"There is no need, I know my way to the library," Quatre informed him. "I suggest that you return to your post." Tenaka and Shin stuttered out a few protests but a dangerous glare from Trowa sent them scurrying on their way. "Come on, let's get this over with."

"What are we going to do Treize?" Zechs demanded angrily. "If Quatre is here then he obviously has some personal interest in the boy! He must know that we have him! What's your big plan for fixing this, eh Treize!" Zechs sneered sarcastically.

"Calm down Zechs. They have no proof that we have done anything wrong. Besides we don't even know that they are here about my little pet," Treize replied smoothly, tense situations that required diplomacy were his element. He simply didn't lose in this type of occurrence.

"Oh right I'm sure Quatre just felt like stampeding across the land almost as quickly as you paranoid guards and attempting to pound down our door in the middle of the night! Do you even comprehend what sort of position I am in! When the Lords find out that I have taken control of the Maxwell lands they will be severely displeased, if you add Quatre's complaints to that…You know how many Lords favor that boy! I could end up losing everything!" Zechs ranted. Treize's cool attitude was not helping him in the least.

"Calm down Zechs, you are too paranoid. If they are here about Maxwell we'll just tell them that we don't know what they are talking about. If they know anything we'll tell them that a group of my elite was lead away by a defective leader, it looked like they were heading back after getting rid of the leader, but they never reached the city. If we stick to our story than they can do nothing," Treize stated calmly. "Sit down and calm down Zechs, have some wine. If you are nervous it will make our story less convincing, and we can't have that now can we." Zechs plopped himself down into a plush chair and smiled wryly at Treize.

"You are just too damn smooth Treize, too damn smooth."

"This is the room. Come on let's get this over with," Quatre said before gently placing his hand on the doorknob. At Heero's slight nod he turned the knob and they all entered the room. They weren't sure what they expected, but it wasn't Zechs and Treize reclining in comfortable chairs sipping expensive wine and chatting about the strength of their armed forces. The two men seemed oblivious to their entrance until Quatre cleared his throat politely. The two men turned quickly and Treize's face lit up with a polite smile.

"Ah Lord Winner I did not hear you enter. I expected my guard to announce you. Where did he scurry off to?" Treize asked politely.

"I knew my way around so I sent him back to his post," Quatre replied coldly. In the corner of his eye he saw Zechs flinch slightly at his statement.

"Oh wonderful wonderful," Treize gushed. "And who are these others. I recognize Barton of course, your head advisor. Is that Heero Yuy? I heard that you had hired him as the Captain of your forces. But who is your third companion? I don't recognize him, I'd assume he was a slave but if I recall correctly you don't believe in slavery." Wufei bristled at his attention and Heero was hard pressed to restrain the growl that wanted to escape. "Oh well that's not important. Come, sit down, would any of you like some wine?"

"I'm afraid we don't have time for pleasantries, Kushrenada," Quatre retorted, deliberately dropping the title, a snide snub.

"Oh so this is business than? Personally I like to mix business and pleasure, but you all seem so serious," Treize said ignoring Quatre's words and tone.

"Look Treize, we're not even here to talk with you, we need to talk with Zechs," Trowa interrupted.

"Thank you Trowa. That is right, I am hear to talk to Zechs," Quatre continued. "Do you have anything to say, Lord Merquise."

"Of course Lord Winner, what is it you wish to discuss," Zechs answered.

"Well, Lord Zechs, I have a problem," Quatre began. "You see I came down because I had heard a rumor that the lands of my sister had been taken over by someone other than her heir. I was of course reluctant to believe these terrible rumors because I did not wish to be forced into to action. Eventually my advisor and my general convinced me to travel to these lands to reassure myself that nothing was wrong. And then I reached the Maxwell lands and lo and behold you had taken over them. I was shocked to say the least, and that was before I heard the rumors…" Quatre trailed off.

"The-the rumors, Lord Winner?" Zechs asked his voice tinged with nervousness.

"Yes Zechs, the rumors," Quatre continued his voice cold and stern. "We have been among the people and our simple questions revealed the most outlandish rumors, I find them highly distressing and should they prove true…"

"Come now Lord Winner," Treize interrupted, "surely you wouldn't put stock in the rumors of peasants."

"Normally I would dismiss such mumblings, but these were different," Quatre mused. "Everywhere there were the same stories, not grossly exaggerated mockeries of the beginning tale. Stories of Merquise forces storming this very castle, of cutthroats hired to kill the heir, even of the heir's daring escape. I was extremely troubled by these tales since they corresponded with a story I heard from a source that I trust. If these rumors are true then I will be forced to take action upon you and your household. I might be able to let the natural assimilation of my sister's lands slide, but an attack on her house and her son can not go unchallenged."

"Come now Winner, how could you possibly assume such things about Lord Merquise, you have no proof," Treize retorted hotly. Zechs was frozen.

"I have all the proof I need," Quatre replied coldly. Zechs trembled slightly, this was not going to be good.

"And what pray tell is that? The word of a disgruntled servant? Only you would think the words of peasants and servants hold any meaning, only you are that foolish," Treize mocked.

Before anyone had a chance to say anything Trowa's sword was at Treize's neck pricking the delicate skin. "Don't you ever talk to Quatre like that in front of me again. You are not in our good graces either, you have many crimes to answer for," Trowa growled.

"Thank you Trowa," Quatre said placing a gentle hand on the arm holding the sword. "But that wasn't necessary." Gentle pressure from Quatre's hand signaled to Trowa to lower the sword. The green eyed advisor quickly sheathed his sword and stepped away from Treize. "I have the word of the only person who could truly know what was going on, besides you two of course."

"Alright, cut the small talk," Trieze interrupted, "If you have all this information you could have just attacked. Why are you here? What do you want?"

"It's very simple," Quatre began. "I want my nephew back. You have him we want him. Don't bother lying to us, your little stooge Shalen told us everything. Give him back now and we won't begin the biggest war in the history of our people."

"And what if we say no," Treize sneered, not bothering to lie and protest innocence.

"Ah good I had so hoped it would come to plan B," Heero snarled drawing his sword.

to be continued…..

In case anyone has forgotten here's this helpful quote from chapter 16: "Plan B consisting mainly of Heero killing the worthless bastards and ordering the guards to bring him to Duo" Mwahahahahaha...the evil laugh was all me, not Heero.


	12. Chapter 18 and Epilogue

AN: I know it seems like a bizarre hallucination but it is indeed true that after 3 and a half years of nothing but silence Duo and the Desert has been inexplicably completed. Last night at midnight I was overcome with the need to finish it and so I have. I stayed up until 5 am finishing chapter 18 and then woke up this morning and fired off the epilogue. I would have had this all looked over and posted sooner, but I stopped for food and the computer was confiscated for scrap-booking purposes. So if there are errors, well it was looked over by a girl who stayed up until 5am last night. Also, there's roughly a 2 to 3 year gap between the pre-fight scene section of the chapter and the rest of it. If there's a major difference in style...well, there's your reason. Enjoy.

DUO AND THE DESERT CHAPTER 18

Duo stirred slightly, waking from the fitful sleep he had eventually slipped into. He shivered violently for a minute it was freezing. He was vaguely grateful for the pathetic blankets that insulated him slightly from the icy stone floor. A quick check showed that he was freezing, exhausted, starving, and that no the melted on shackles had not been some kind of twisted nightmare. On the bright side the cold had somewhat numbed his wrists, enough that he could think clearly for the first time since his imprisonment. So he quickly re-assessed the situation.

"Let's see," Duo muttered to himself. "The shackles aren't coming off, I'm chained so I can't stand up, I'm in one of the hidden cells and I don't know when Treize is going to send for me, or when or if Heero is going to get here. Dear Shinigami I am screwed. Okay, there must be something I can do instead of just waiting for something to happen. Let's see, the shackles aren't coming off, but what about the chain…" Duo immediately got to work examining the way the chain was connected. The first few links were strong and would take an unbelievable effort to break, but about six links down Duo discovered exactly what he was looking for, a weak link. It took almost more effort than the abused boy had, but he was able to smash the link hard enough against the floor that it snapped, freeing him from the chain. Duo grinned slightly. "Well at least I'll be able to move around now."

Treize stood absolutely still, Heero's sword point was lightly touching his neck. Everyone else in the room was frozen, watching to see how the scene would play out. Zechs was quietly hyperventilating in the corner and Wufei had drawn his own sword, ready to back up his friend. "Now Treize, we can do this one of two ways. You can take me to Duo, or I can kill you and your guards can take me to him. Which do you prefer?"

"Heero, calm yourself. I am sure that things are not quite that dire," Treize replied, carefully pinching Heero's sword and moving it away from his jugular.

"Then you will cooperate?" The sword was immediately back at Treize's throat.

Treize took a step back. "You seem so upset Heero. You really should calm down. I mean you wouldn't even be here if it weren't for Quatre. You have no real purpose in being here."

"You are wrong. This has nothing to do with Quatre. I will not stop until I find Duo. Now, will you cooperate, or do I have to kill you?" Heero asked coldly.

"I suppose I will accommodate you for a time, since you seem to be so set on this," Treize replied airily.

"Good. Now where is he," Heero growled.

"Right this way gentlemen. Your little friend is in the dungeon. Come along Zechs." Treize carefully backed into the hall at sword-point, the rest of the group following behind him. Shin turned the corner and froze at the sight that greeted him. Treize was the only one who saw him as he was facing backwards. Shin's eyes met Treize's and a silent message passed between them. Shin nodded and noiselessly slipped back the way he came. No one noticed the errant guard's escape; all attention was on Heero and his captive.

Shin bolted down the hallways until he quite literally ran into Tenaka who was on his way back to the gate. "Watch where you're going Shin! What were you thinking!" Tenaka yelled. Shin quickly shushed him.

"Quick, we have to find the rest of the guards, they've taken Lord Trieze captive!" Shin whispered urgently.

"Holy- What do we do Shin, what do we do?" Tenaka clearly wasn't the right person for Shin to come to.

"Like I said, we'll find the others. Together we can take care of those trespassers. They won't get away with doing this to Lord Treize," Shin growled. Tenaka nodded. "All right, you go get the Maxwell kid's guards, he's out for the count we need them more than he does. I'll get the rest of our troop. We can head them off at the far edge of the Great Hall. Now move quickly. If we do this right we can regain Lord Treize's favor." Tenaka nodded and the two men raced off in opposite directions. Tenaka raced down the marbled halls struggling to remember where Treize had placed the annoyance. He skidded to a halt when he saw the two enormous men who were struggling to look inconspicious while guarding a seemingly empty hall. The two men looked at him strangely but refrained from commenting, they were trained to leave well enough alone. "You two, Lord Treize and Lord Zechs are in need of you! You must go to them at once!" Tenaka panted.

"We have been ordered to guard the boy," guard number one said. "We can not leave our post unattended."

"Lord Treize's very life is in jeopardy! You must help him, you are the strongest men he has!" Tenaka could see that the guards we're still torn between their conflicting duties. "Look I'll watch over the boy, you go assist Lord Treize, he is being taken through the main hallway to the dungeon area!" The guards hesitated slightly but were moved by the urgency of his plea. Guard number one handed Tenaka the key to the secret cell and then the two of them took off through a secret passage that would lead them straight to the Great Hall which was only a short distance from the dungeon area. Tenaka held the key like it was a poisonous viper.

"Oh what to do, what to do?" Tenaka muttered to himself. "I mean what if Lord Treize is forced to tell them where he hid the brat. I'm not strong enough to take out four guys. I should, I should move him. Yea, that's it; if I move him then even if Treize is forced to tell they won't find him. Yea, that's what needs to be done." The guard nodded emphatically to himself. Tenaka ran his hands over the false wall until he managed to find the disguised key-hole which was placed in the center of a carving of a rose. Tenaka jammed the key into the hole. It rattled noisily as he tried to turn it. "Stupid cheap piece of...oh, it turns the other way..." Finally he unlocked the panel and shoved it open. Boy was that a mistake.

Duo looked up, there were some very strange sounds coming from where the door was. It was a testament to the gravity of his condition that it actually took him several seconds to realize that meant someone was going to open it. As quickly as he could in his condition Duo lunged to the area that would be behind the door when it opened. The door slammed open, almost squishing him. Duo was momentarily blinded by the light, but luckily he was hidden. Whoever opened the door froze and muttered," What the-". That was enough for Duo, the voice was an enemy, not a friend. Duo brought his clasped hands together on the intruders head, making sure to hit him with the metal cuffs. It hurt like hell, his vision whited-out for several long moments. But it did the trick and the man, quickly identified as Tenaka, was left unconscious while Duo left his prison, locking the door behind him.

Once he was free of his cell Duo had no idea where to go. The guards could be anywhere, Treize could be anywhere. The best he could do was stick to the secret passages, with any luck Zechs' and Trieze's people wouldn't know about them yet. The nearest one lead to the Great Hall, not the most ideal of destinations, but it would have to do. He'd have to be extra careful in the passage, any noise could alert the guards that he was free. He would definitely be taking his time in getting there. If he was lucky, the Great Hall would be empty, or nearly so. Most of the passages lead to the Great Hall at some point or another. The passage that lead to the outside did. Unfortunately it was on the other end of the enormous room, but if worse came to worse Duo could just camp out in his current passage way until the hall was empty. With a loose plan in mind Duo carefully and soundlessly slipped into the passage and began his slow quiet trip.

Heero, Wufei, Trowa and Quatre had marched their captives, Treize and Zechs, nearly the entire length of the Great Hall when suddenly the heavy mahogany doors they were headed towards burst open and in poured four guards with swords in hand. Shin was leading the charge with the rest of the troops responsible for kidnaping Duo ranging behind him, included the fully disgraced Daihen. The four men from Magunac spun to face the surprise attackers, readying their own weapons. That first moment of distraction provided Zechs and Treize with an opportunity to draw their own swords and thus the battle began.

Treize lunged at Heero, intending to take out what he perceived to be the greatest threat first, while his back was turned but Lord Winner's young general would not be taken out so simply. In the nick of time Heero sensed the attack and whirled around, meeting Treize's sword with a deafening clash. The thundering noise marked broke the moving tableau as the two forces collided. Wufei wasted no time in engaging the Lord Merquise. Zechs was rumored to be an excellent swordsman and Wufei was more than ready to test that claim in a death match. Trowa and Quatre immediately moved to face the oncoming foes in an effort to guard the backs of their friends. Three of the guards rushed the two and engaged them in combat. Daihen on the other hand skirted the battle between the two and his comrades and headed straight for the whirling fight between Heero and his Lord Treize. His only thought was to regain some fraction of his lost honor by assisting his Lord in dispatching of the troublesome general. Daihen hurled himself, sword first, at Yuy's back with a raucous cry. With the cry as a warning Heero was able to push Treize back with a daring thrust and spin in time to smack Daihen's blade off its potentially deadly course. Heero then turned his own blade back on the guard and with a single stab his body fell lifeless to the floor. Heero spun back around to face his real opponent just in time to receive a stab through his shoulder. Treize smirked as he wrenched his blade out of the wound, his eyes gleaming at Heero's suppressed grunt of pain. In his mind, this little duel was over. Heero on the other hand, did not agree, he stepped back, steeled himself to the pain and then resumed a fighting stance, gesturing for Treize to come at him once again.

Meanwhile Wufei and Zechs were a blur of perfectly executed master level sword stroke after perfectly executed master lever sword stroke. There blades struck each other again and again, almost as if they were preforming a complex show piece. Neither seemed to be gaining or losing a single inch against the other. It seemed at first that, if left with no interference, they could fight forever with no clear winner however as the fight dragged on it became clear that there was indeed a great difference in the two swordsmen. As the time ticked on Wufei's smirk began to grow as he flexed muscles and drew upon skills drilled into his body all his life. At the same time the length of the fight had caused Zechs' eyes to widen and his palms to sweat. The more time he spent clashing swords with his nearly jubilant foe the more desperate his actions became. He pulled out finishing move after finishing move, only to have them be conquered by his smirking Chinese foe. Left without interference Zechs would not win this fight.

The guard that Trowa and Quatre faced were hardly a real threat despite their slight advantage of numbers. Even so Trowa made sure to keep himself between the attackers and his lover's blindspot. He would not risk a stray blade injuring his beloved, not when he could prevent it. However his worries seemed nearly unfounded, the guards they faced were hardly adept swordsmen. Their skills were low. Unfortunately they all had remarkable survival skills. The three managed to dance in and out of range without taking serious injuries. If Trowa or Quatre tried to pursue them in their retreats on would immediately head for the distracted Wufei or Heero. And so they were trapped in an unfortunate stalemate. The guards couldn't get past their defense but they could manage to dispose of the guard and race to their friends' aid either. A most unfortunate stalemate for all involved.

Of course just at the moment of precarious balance between all those fighting, that balance was shatter when a panel in the wall burst open and spewed out two enormous men wielding heavy blades. The fighters took in the dynamics of the fight quickly and raced across the floor to aid their Lord and his companion. Shin was locked blade to blade with Trowa as the giants advanced on them, he smirked, "You're finished now advisor. You were barely holding your own before they arrived!" Trowa's expression didn't even shift (with the small exception of a raised eyebrow). Just as Shin open his mouth to spout more nonsense Trowa lashed his foot out, it conected to Shin's knew with a crack. The guard yelped and began to collapse. Trowa slashed down at him but Shin managed to shift at the last minute, avoiding a killing blow. The sword did however slice his sword arm down to the bone. Shine squealed like a stuck pig and threw himself out of range of the fight, dropping his sword at Trowa's feet. Trowa had no time to gloat as the first of the colossal men was already upon him. Trowa threw up his sword to block the mammoth man's fist powerful strike, the impact nearly brought him to his knees. Any thought he had of sheltering his love was lost as his full attention was wrenched towards his giant opponent. He had only moment to be grateful that he took out one of the guards and lessened the odds against his beloved before his entire attention was forcefully riveted on his own fight.

Quatre was struggling. He was not naive enough to have gone into this fight not knowing he was the weak link in their party. He was far less skilled with a sword than his companions. His skills were only slightly greater than those of Treize's guards and with the fight turning into a flat two against one his odds of winning were swiftly decreasing especially as his two opponents were swiftly cluing in to the fact that Trowa was too distracted to come to his aid. They began to maneuver themselves towards a vague pincer movement, undoubtably trying to trap Quatre between them and slay him while he was debating how to attack in two directions at once. Quatre however was not going to fall to them. He was fighting for the life of Duo, his family, and for the happiness of Heero one of his closest friends. He would not, could not, fall to these lackeys, no matter what they tried. He would have to act quickly, before they succeeded in their trap. Quatre sucked in a deep breath and calmed his nerves. He would stop them. His hands tightened on the hilt of his sword as he prepared for his move. It would be a gamble. If he failed, they would have him. He would be vulnerable and he would die. But he wouldn't fail. There was too much at stake. Before he could waste anymore time thinking on his desperate move Quatre threw himself into it. Lunging directly at the man to his right. Barreling into his personal space and away from the second guard his sword held high for his desperate strike.

Duo gave up sneaking through the secret passage the moment he heard the clash of swords coming from the other side. He raced through the pitch black tunnel as quickly as was safe. Whoever was causing the conflict ( his heart was secretly chanting Heero's name over and over) was clearly not a friend of Treize and was therefore a potential ally. With any luck the fighters would actually already be his allies. With any luck it would be Heero. It had to be Heero. The darkness in the tunnel was slowly lifting, dim light turning the previous black to gray. He had to be close to the end now. Duo burst out of the passage and into the Great Hall just in time to see one of his massive guards heading straight for Wufei. He took off running without even fully registering the scene but as he sprinted the direness of the situation became clear to him. Wufei was locked in an intense duel with Zechs. Duo could see that Wufei was slowly overpowering him, but the key word there was slowly. Wufei did not have a great enough advantage to defend himself from both the huge guard and Merquise's vaunted skill with a blade. Duo redoubled his efforts to reach them, not even bothering to consider his wealth of handicaps the greatest of which were his hands. His wrists were still trapped together, only able to be pulled about half a foot apart and his wrists were so heavily damaged. None of this registered in his mind, all he saw was his friend, in danger, all he thought was that none of his friends would die there today, not because of him. His headlong flight only faltered long enough for him to swoop down and pick up Shin's abandoned sword. As he raced through the skirmish he caught glimpses of the rest of his friends. Trowa desperately fending off the tremendous strength of the other colossus, Quatre throwing himself at one of two opponents and Heero, his Heero, wounded and locked in a battle with Treize. But Wufei needed him most so Duo quickly shoved those images out of his mind. He needed to focus on saving Wufei, then he could worry about the rest.

The guard charging at Wufei was ver focused on his intended prey. So focused in fact that he had blocked out the rest of the battle, blocked it out so well in fact, that he didn't even hear the footsteps racing towards him from behind. He blocked it all out so well that he didn't sense a thing until he felt the sword slice through his side. The man roared. He spun around to face whoever dared to attack him from behind. The momentum of the guard's turn ripped the sword out of Duo's hands and it remained lodged in the man's side even as he treated Duo to a vicious backhand. The hit threw Duo several feet and he skidded across the floor for several more. The enraged behemoth followed him, so intent on revenge that he paid no heed to the weapon still trapped in his flesh.

Treize couldn't quite understand what was happening. He couldn't understand why these men were here, fighting him, for a slave! He couldn't understand why Yuy was so passionate about this rescue. He couldn't understand how Yuy could execute those moves with a **hole** in his **shoulder**! By all rights this duel should have been long over. They were around evenly matched before he inflicted the wound, with the wound Yuy should have fallen swiftly to his sword. The stubborn bastard was still fight and fighting hard. Treize found himself panting for breath far sooner than he would have liked. It was of little comfort that Yuy was panting just as hard, the man should have been dead already. No matter, Treize would take car of him, no matter what it took. He would not let this upstart best him.

Quatre's desperate lunge crashed him into his adversary. The startled man hadn't even had time to brace himself so the both hit the floor in a tangle of limbs. The second man merely gaped at them, not even bothering to take advantage of Quatre's venerable back. Quatre and the guard rolled along jockeying for the top position. Then, without warning, Quatre went completely limp. The guard laughed, rolled himself to the top and drew his sword up for the killing stroke. While his arms were raised high, preparing for a mighty blow, Quatre's sword flashed up and slid between his ribs. The guard stiffened and toppled to the side, dead. Quatre had regained his feet and his stance before his second opponent had even realized what happened. Quatre smiled brightly and beckoned the second man forward. He growled and raced to avenge his comrade.

Trowa was having a hard time. The mammoth man was slow, far to slow to land a hit on him, but every block Trowa was forced to preform sent powerful shockwaves through his arms. His muscles were sore, and tired. His blocks were getting progressively lower with each strike. There were even a couple of hits where he was amazed that the force didn't shatter his sword, or his arms. He needed to end this soon or the man would wear him down far enough to be victorious. Trowa retreated several steps, an idea forming in his mind. The mammoth followed him at a lumbering pace. When he got close Trowa distracted him with a fancy twist of his sword, with the attention on the sword Trowa brought his leg up in a swift but powerful kick to the mammoth's sword clutching fist. Unprepared for this the sword was lost, it flew through the air in a spectacular arch landing far away from their battle. Trowa brought his own sword in with a powerful swing, his victory all but ensured. Until his word was caught, by a gauntlet covered hand. The mammoth grinned and him and twisted. Trowa's sword snapped in half.

Duo rolled himself onto his back with a groan. His hand were raised to delicately probe the side of his face. He groaned again. He hadn't lost any teeth though, so that was a positive mark. Duo forced his eyes open and raised his head slightly. He was greeted by the sight of the enraged behemoth barreling down on him with a raised sword. He was trailing blood and Duo could see the tip of his pilfered sword protruding from the man's left side. There was no time to rise to his feet, and no weapon to defend himself with. Duo stared wide eyed at his rampaging opponent. He had no idea what to do now.

Heero's vision was wavering ever so slightly. His wound was bleeding too heavily. He had yet to repay the favor on Treize. The most he had managed to score were a few shallow cut, none of which were still bleeding. As his own blood ran down his arm Heero was slowly losing his focus. Treize had yet to top touch him again but realistically it was only a matter of time. Heero was unsure of how much longer he could keep his pace up. Then he felt it, a line of fire stretching across his ribs. Treize had scored another hit.

Wufei was ginning. Zechs was near tears. He wasn't going to last. They both knew it.

Quatre was tired but so was his last opponent. Quatre was also developing bruises all over, he could just tell but his opponent wasn't. Quatre nearly pouted at the unfairness of that. On the bright side his opponent was pretty convinced he was insane (if the guard's yells of "back, back you psycho!" were any indication) and just ever so slightly afraid of him. The guard's sword trembled a bit as he held it in the block position. Quatre smile his vilest smile, the guard whimpered. With a quick lunge from Quatre the man was disarmed. His sword flew up and Quatre caught it with his free hand. The guard scuttled backwards, landing on the floor near the wounded, gibberish spewing, Shin. Quatre smiled. He had not lost.. His fight was over and he was victorious.

Mammoth man casually tossed the upper half of Trowa's sword away and lunged at him with one meaty hand out stretched. Trowa shoved the remains of his sword hard into that hand. With all his strength behind the blow the sword bits pierced the gauntlet and the man's hand. In the same motion Trowa vaulted over the mammoth's head, skidding to a halt behind him and searching desperately for some kind of weapon. The man bellowed, ripped out the remains of the sword and spun to face Trowa. Just as the mammoth leveled his gaze on the nimble man once again Trowa heard a yell from his beloved. The mammoth began his charge. Trowa turned towards the voice of his love, unable to stop himself. Quatre tossed him a sword. In the end, the mammoth did all the work. His reckless charge could not be stopped and he impaled himself on the sword Trowa caught.

Zechs' sword went flying. Without missing a beat he raised his hands in surrender. As it was he barely dodged Wufei's follow up thrust. Wufei scowled at the Lord Merquise. "You are a coward. If you believed in justice you would die here like a man." Wufei spat. Zechs bowed his head but made no move to argue. He just wanted to leave this fight with his life. Wufei lowered his sword but kept it un sheathed, prepared for any underhanded trick the desperate noble might try.

Duo stared at he approaching behemoth. That man was going to kill him. He really only had like one half baked kind of idea. Well, there was nothing to do but give it a try. So, Duo raised his foot and took aim. Surprisingly the man took little notice of his raised foot so Duo considered step one a success. Then came step two. The behemoth charged until he was essentially on top of Duo, his sword already stabbing downwards. Duo felt his foot connect with the man's side, more specifically with the sword in the man's side. The behemoth froze and made a sort of squelching noise. The sword popped out of his back. Duo took advantage of the pause to roll away as fast as he could. Unfortunately the behemoth wasn't slowed for long. He slowly turned around to face Duo once again. Duo scrambled to pick up the blood slick sword but his hands just weren't cooperating. The behemoth advanced step by earthshaking step, his every move deliberate. His hands were curled ever so slightly into makeshift claws. He was ready to wring Duo's neck. Beyond ready. He stretched out his arms, reaching for his prey...and caught a fast flung Zechs Merquise. His hands instinctively closed around the Lord's arms to keep him from impacting. And the behemoth found a sword at his neck. He froze. Duo sank down from his knees to his butt and smiled. "Thanks Wufei," he said.

"Anytime, my friend."

Heero felt the pain of the slash to his ribs. It felt like a bad slice. Treize would be celebrating. But, the sharp new pain pulled his slowly fuzzing mind together. He was not going to die here. He was not going to let Duo down. He loved Duo! Duo's torturer would not be permitted to survive. Heero's eyes hardened and he sprung back into action not even seconds after Treize had cut him. Treize was surprised, he almost didn't get his sword back up. Heero could feel Kushrenada's sword bite deeply into his uninjured arm but paid it no heed. What did another arm wound matter when his own blade had hit Treize's heart. Heero let his body slide to the floor along with his enemy's corpse. His hands pried themselves off of his sword and fell to the ground, helping to hold his body at least a little upright. He shut his eyes and just breathed. There was silence. The battle must be over. Then there was a hand, touching him. His as snapped open and his head turned while one of his hands flew to the hilt of his sword. He saw violet eyes (although one was rapidly swelling shut). "Duo...How...What."

"Heero." There were tears in those eyes and a smile on his lips. "I knew. I knew." He repeated.

Duo's hand traced their way up to his face and pulled him into a kiss. It was chaste by necessity, neither of them had the energy left to be passionate. But Heero's hand did managed to find its way from the hilt of his sword to the ragged end of a chestnut braid.

Wufei made short work of securing their few living prisoners. He knocked them all out and tied them together with the surprisingly hardy decorative cords that had previously held open the Great Hall's numerous curtains. Wufei happily took on the responsibility of caring for security while his companions cuddled with their respective lovers and bandaged each other's wounds. After all he had neither a lover nor any wounds to speak of. They needed the break and he didn't. He cut their cuddling time short however. They may have won their battle but the castle was not yet theirs. It was still swarming with enemy soldiers. It was past time that they implimented the second part of their plan.

"All right you four, break it up. We need to get to the western parapets and give the signal. And we need to hurry, before more enemies come!"

"The signal?" Duo questioned.

"It's all part of the plan my love," Heero murmured. "So Duo, what is the best way to get to your western wall from here?"

"There's, there's a paasage, just over there," Duo replied pointing at an innocent chunk of wall.

"Good let's get moving," Wufei said pulling Trowa and Quatre to their feet before striding over and giving Heero and Duo the same treatment. Duo led the way over to the wall and fiddled with the woodwork causing a door to pop out. They entered the passage and then waited for Wufei to drag all the prisoners inside before closing it back up. They didn't want anyone stumbling on the scene in the Great Hall and freeing the living.

A few minutes of fumbling in the dark later and they reached the Western parapets. Thankfully the guards who should have been watching it had rushed to Treize's aid so they took the wall without a fight. Wufei raised the signal and they all stared as people came pouring out of the surrounding forest. Tons of people. It seemed like the flow of peasants would never end. Trowa opened the smallish side door to let them in and then returned to the wall. They trusted that Dairenis' men could handle things from there.

"What- what is all this? What's going on?" Duo asked.

"We ran into Dairenis in a tavern," Quatre supplied. "We helped us. This is the second part of our plan. The part where he gathers all your supporters and storms the castle, removing all of Zechs' and Treize's men."

"All those people...they're here...for me?"

"Of course they are love," Heero said. "After all they know a good leader when they have one. They've suffered, under Zechs. Even if it was for only a short while."

By the time the sun rose that faithful morning the castle was reclaimed and put in the hands of it's rightful leader, the young Lord Maxwell. The confused soldiers had been taken with little fuss and very few casualties, on both sides. The bulk of Treize's and Zechs' forces now resided in the dungeon until further notice, along with Lord Merquise himself. By the time the sun rose and the castle was reclaimed, the five young men who had fought so hard for it were each carefully checked by doctors and bundle off to bed. And so the Lord Maxwell slept through his first day of renewed rule in the arms of his lover.

EPILOGUE - ONE MONTH LATER

It took a full month to organize a council of the nearby Lords to convene in Duo's land and decide what to do with the prisoners and the lands of the two Lords who began the conflict. But nobody minded the month of relaxing very much. Both Duo and Heero were healing, slowly, but they had very nearly reached normal condition, although Duo still kept his wrists swathed in bandages and probably always would. The metal cuffs had been removed but the scars were terrible, the skin was sensitive and the whole mess was prone to infections (or so the doctor had informed him). Thankfully Duo absolutely refused to let his own wounds, or Heero's, ruin their time together so he was aggressively cheerful pushing the barely resisting Heero into relaxation and play. Wufei was finding an unhealthy amount of amusement in watching Heero attempt to sink into a dark mood only to be tackled by Maxwell every time and made to be happy, no matter what it took. In fact, the only one who wasn't completely enjoying their free time was Quatre who was slowly winding himself up for what promised to be a spectacular fit. The others (especially Trowa) tried to relax, console and eventually just ignore the distressed blonde, but nothing worked. Because something had occurred to Quatre, something so blindingly obvious that it hadn't even registered. They had come here to bring Duo back...but that wouldn't be happening. The day before the council meeting Quatre snapped over breakfast.

"That's it!" Quatre said flinging his fork down onto the table. "Quit rampaging right over what I'm saying as if I'm not saying it! I can't be the only one who's realized what's going to have to happen after tomorrow! I mean Rashid is good, but he can't just run Magaunac for the rest of forever! We're going to have to return, soon. And Duo can hardly go with us, he is the Lord here! And what about Heero?"

"I'm staying here," Heero replied. "I'm sorry but I must resign as your general Lord Winner."

"Well of course, I mean I never expected that you'd, I understand but," Quatre sighed. Heero was the best general Magaunac had ever seen. It was more than a shame to lose him but Quatre could hardly argue for him to abandon Duo.

"Besides, I already have a plenty suitable successor in mind," Heero added. Quatre and Wufei looked at him curiously. Trowa nodded and smiled.

"I believe that I know who you speak of and I agree with your choice."

"Well Trowa, who is to be my new general?" Quatre asked.

"Don't you wish to discuss it?"

"Why bother, if you and Heero both think this man is suitable I'm sure you've already made the right choice."

"Well in that case," Trowa said, "Chang Wufei, would you accept the position of general in Lord Winner's army."

Wufei froze his fork halfway to his open mouth. Quatre laughed with delight and Duo ginned at his stunned friend. The smirk Heero was wearing was positively wicked. "Of course," Quatre said. "Why on earth didn't I think of that! There could be no better general in Heero's absence than Wufei!"

Wufei lowered his fork to his plate with undue attention paid to it. He then met Quatre's eyes. "I would be honored."

"See Q-ball you had no reason to be upset," Duo said breaking the heavy atmosphere.

"I wasn't upset about losing a general! I'm upset because I'm losing two friends!"

"Quatre..." Trowa said placing his hand on his love's shoulder.

"Woah, cut the melodrama Q-baby, like we'll let living in two different places separate us for good! I mean come on, visits are always possible and welcome. We're not chained to our castles. So what if we can't spend every moment together, we're still family! Besides, you should count your blessings, this way you won't get sick of me." Duo grinned.

"I guess you're right. I was getting a bit worked up over a minor problem."

"Fully. With Zechs taken care of I am free to come and go as I please without fear of losing everything, so nothing is going to stop me from visiting my best buddies."

Duo, Heero, Trowa, Quatre and Wufei were greeting the arriving Lords in preparation for the meeting when there was a disturbance down the hall. A scowling Dairenis wove his way through the arriving nobility with a young lady shadowing his every footstep. Duo watched them curiously. "I'm sorry milord," Dairenis began, " I tried to get her to leave, but she would not be budged. She insisted on speaking with you and attending the council."

Duo studied the blonde noble. Her clothes were meticulous and fashionable. Her was serious but held a hint of stubbornness. "Who is she?" Duo asked.

"Lady Relena Merquise," Dairenis replied, "Her to speak on behalf of her brother's holdings." Duo took a step back, wide eyed even as Heero stepped forward, slightly shielding his lover. Relena kept her face blank and her chin up.

"I beg you to let me speak my piece," she said levelly. "I mean no harm to any in this castle."

"Why should we allow you to speak. Your brother attempted to have Lord Maxwell killed," Heero sneered. "He illegally seized Lord Maxwell's lands. And when Lord Maxwell was revealed to be alive he conspired with Kushrenada to have Lord Maxwell kidnaped and tortured."

"I am well aware of the actions my brother has taken. I also realize how despicably he has acted. I will not lie, I love my brother but that feeling does not matter. I cannot support the actions he has taken. I'm not here to fight for leniency for him. I only here because I wish to ensure that our people don't suffer from his disgusting greed."

"Then you are welcome here in our council Lady Relena," Duo said solemnly. Heero looked like he wanted to protest but he held his tongue. "Now let's enter and get this meeting started. Duo turned and crossed into the formal meeting room, Heero right on his tail, Quatre, Trowa and Wufei following not far behind. Relena let out a breath and slouched ever so slightly with her eyes closed before following after the five of them.

The council lasted until late that night. As with any group of people discussing serious issues there were many disagreements, most of which were spawned out of personal grudges rather than actual concern about the problems at hand. But in the end Quatre and Duo were able to guide the council to a close. The soldiers and guards imprisoned in the Maxwell dungeons were being sent to the mines and the docks to be used as cheap labor. Zechs was being shipped off to a Lord in the far north for imprisonment. Duo didn't really care what happened to him as long as he was far far away. And then they came to the ruling of the estates of Lords Merquise and Kushrenada. Relena was shocked to find herself declared the ruler of her brother's lands but her conduct during the proceedings had impressed many of the Lords, including Duo and Quatre. Treize's lands proved far more troublesome to settle. Eventually it was decided that his young daughter, Mariemaia, would eventually take over, for the time being she would "lead" under the guidance of Lady Une, her noble governess who was the younger sister of one of the attending Lords. Once that issue was settled all the attendees retired to their beds. They would leave in the morning.

The sun dawned bright and early the next day heralding the departure of all Lord Maxwell's distinguished guests. One by one the Lords rode off to their respected lands exchanging brief pleasantries as they left. Even Lady Relena was able to make polite chatter with Duo as she prepared to go on her way. They both made the effort to remain at the least civil to keep the peace between their neighboring lands. Eventually it was time for the worst parting of the day. The rest of the Lords were long gone and it was past time for Quatre, Trowa and Wufei to be on their way. Duo flung himself onto his friends, managing to catch all three in group hug. Quatre clung back just as desperately as Duo. Wufei managed to squirm out of the hug after a moment, but Trowa was trapped by his lovers tight grip on his sleeve. He didn't seem to mind too much though. Heero clasped arms with Wufei in a traditional warriors handshake. Eventually Quatre and Duo were pried apart and Heero was able to say his goodbyes to the other two. Finally the three had to leave they mounted up and rode off. Duo waved frantically until they were out of sight. He then hugged himself to Heero's side and sighed. "I'm really gonna miss them."

"It's not so bad love, like you said, we'll see them again before too long. They're family." Heero said. "Besides now we have plenty of time, for just the two of us, alone."

"Mmm, I could learn to like that," Duo purred.

"Learn?"

"Yea, given enough time I'm sure that I'll find myself growing fond of this arrangement."

"Brat," Heero said, grasping Duo face between his hands and pulling him into a deep kiss.

"Yea," Duo gasped when he was released. "I could learn to love this."

"Good, because I already do."

**THE END!**

To be perfectly honest, I thought that this end would never come. I still don't, not really, even though I've already typed up "the end" and am looking at it right now...I'm not really loving my last lines, but I can live with them because Duo and the Desert is Finally Finished! Like I said, I thought this day would never come. I started this fic when I was a freshman in high school and believe me it shows. Looking back at it there are so many things that I would love to change...but really there's no chance that I'd ever revise the whole thing I was beyond lucky to just finish it. You all (I'm assuming that someone somewhere is actually reading this heh) can thank Rurouni Kenshin for this fic being finished, no joke. I've been on a Kenshin manga reading binge and at about 12 o'clock last night I randomly thought you know, even though I hate Saito he and Wufei would probably really get along well. Then the wheels started turning on this fic. So yea, you can thank Kenshin for the, no doubt, overly long, probably poorly written fight scene. I loved writing tho, every paragraph was like a mini-cliffhanger! I honestly had a blast writing it, which is why it goes on so long. The epilogue on the other hand was an uphill both ways in the snow type struggle. But I pounded one out, and there it is! I hope someone somewhere reads this chapter and is happy because that fic they favorited 4 years ago was finally finished. I guess the reviews will tell eh? Thank you to anyone who has bothered to read this beast of a fic!


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